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Ansible Automation PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2023-5115

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An absolute path traversal attack exists in the Ansible automation platform. This flaw allows an attacker to craft a malicious Ansible role and make the victim execute the role. A symlink can be used to overwrite a file outside of the extraction path.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

This is an absolute path traversal vulnerability in Ansible automation platform where a crafted malicious Ansible role can use symlinks to overwrite files outside the intended extraction path during role execution. The attacker tricks a victim into executing the malicious role, and the symlink traversal allows writing to arbitrary filesystem locations.

MitigationReview and validate all symlink handling in role extraction logic, implement strict path validation to ensure extracted files remain within the designated directory, and consider implementing role signature verification before execution.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Ansible Automation PlatformApplication
Affected:= 1.2= 2.3= 2.4
Ansible InsideApplication
Affected:= 1.1= 1.2
Ansible DeveloperApplication
Affected:= 1.0= 1.1
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Ansible product and version
    Run 'ansible --version' or check the installed package version via package manager (e.g., 'rpm -q ansible-automation-platform' or 'dpkg -l | grep ansible')
    Affected if The installed version matches 1.2, 2.3, or 2.4 for Ansible Automation Platform; 1.1 or 1.2 for Ansible Inside; 1.0 or 1.1 for Ansible Developer; or 10.0 for Debian Linux
  2. Determine if Ansible roles from untrusted sources are being executed
    Review automation workflows, playbooks, or job templates to identify whether roles are pulled from external or untrusted galaxy servers, git repositories, or demoted local paths
    Affected if Roles from untrusted or demoted sources are being executed on the system
  3. Verify if role extraction or unpacking occurs in automation workflows
    Check job templates, workflow configs, or custom modules that handle ansible-galaxy role installation, role import, or archive extraction for the presence of symlink handling logic
    Affected if Role extraction or unpacking is performed without strict path validation on symlinks
  4. Inspect role archives or custom roles for symlinks pointing outside intended directories
    Examine any custom or imported role archives (tar.gz files) using 'tar -tzf role.tar.gz' and check for symlinks with absolute paths or relative paths that traverse outside the role root directory
    Affected if Symlinks in role archives resolve to paths outside the role extraction directory

You are affected if you run an affected version of Ansible and execute roles from untrusted sources, particularly when role extraction occurs without validating that symlinks remain within the intended directory boundaries.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Review and validate all symlink handling in role extraction logic, implement strict path validation to ensure extracted files remain within the designated directory, and consider implementing role signature verification before execution.

Fix this in Ansible Automation Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-5115 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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