Cleartext TransmissionWeakness · CWE-319

CVE-2024-1657

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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
A flaw was found in the ansible automation platform. An insecure WebSocket connection was being used in installation from the Ansible rulebook EDA server. An attacker that has access to any machine in the CIDR block could download all rulebook data from the WebSocket, resulting in loss of confidentiality and integrity of the system.

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

The Ansible rulebook EDA server uses an insecure WebSocket (ws://) connection instead of a secure encrypted connection (wss://). This allows any attacker with network access within the same CIDR block to intercept and download all rulebook data transmitted over the WebSocket, compromising confidentiality and integrity.

MitigationEnable TLS encryption on the WebSocket connection by configuring WSS (WebSocket Secure) with valid certificates, and implement proper network segmentation or authentication to restrict access to the WebSocket endpoint.

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

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 the EDA server WebSocket endpoint configuration
    Locate the configuration file or environment variable that defines the WebSocket URL used by the Ansible rulebook EDA server. Common locations include the server configuration file, environment variables (such as ANSIBLE_EDA_WS_URL or similar), or the command-line arguments used to start the EDA server.
    Affected if The WebSocket URL starts with ws:// instead of wss://
  2. Verify the WebSocket connection protocol in use
    Capture network traffic or inspect the server logs to observe what protocol the EDA server is advertising or accepting for WebSocket connections. Use a tool like tcpdump, Wireshark, or examine server startup logs for the WebSocket endpoint URL.
    Affected if The server is accepting connections on a ws:// URL rather than wss://
  3. Check if TLS/SSL is configured for the WebSocket endpoint
    Review the EDA server configuration files and look for SSL/TLS settings such as key_file, cert_file, or SSL_ENABLED. Also check if the server has any configuration for secure WebSocket (WSS) or TLS certificate paths defined.
    Affected if No TLS/SSL certificate configuration exists for the WebSocket endpoint, or the configuration explicitly uses an insecure ws:// protocol
  4. Inspect network listening services
    Run netstat, ss, or similar tools to list all listening services on the EDA server host. Identify any WebSocket service listening on an unencrypted port (typically 8080 or similar non-SSL ports) rather than a secure port.
    Affected if The EDA server WebSocket service is listening on a non-SSL port without TLS encryption

The environment is affected if the Ansible rulebook EDA server is configured to use ws:// (unencrypted WebSocket) instead of wss:// (encrypted WebSocket) for transmitting rulebook data.

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

Enable TLS encryption on the WebSocket connection by configuring WSS (WebSocket Secure) with valid certificates, and implement proper network segmentation or authentication to restrict access to the WebSocket endpoint.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-1657 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2024-1657 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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