CVE-2020-25636
Ansible vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

A flaw was found in Ansible Base when using the awsssm connection plugin as there is no namespace separation for file transfers. Files are written directly to the root bucket, making it possible to have collisions when running multiple ansible processes. This vulnerability was discovered in September 2020 and affects Ansible Base version 2.10.1rc2 and earlier versions ([Redhat Bugzilla](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/showbug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-25636), NVD).

Technical details

The vulnerability stems from the aws_ssm connection plugin's file transfer implementation. When transferring files to instances, the plugin writes these files directly to the root of the S3 bucket without any namespace separation or instance-specific folders. This design flaw could lead to file collisions when multiple Ansible processes are running simultaneously and sharing the same bucket. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 Base Score of 7.1 (HIGH) with the vector string: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H (NVD).

Impact

The primary impact of this vulnerability affects service availability. When multiple Ansible processes attempt to transfer files simultaneously using the same S3 bucket, file collisions can occur, potentially leading to file corruption or overwriting of data. This could disrupt automated deployments and configuration management tasks (NVD).

Mitigation and workarounds

The issue was fixed in awsssm version 1.3.0. Prior to the fix, Red Hat Product Security noted that mitigation options were either not available or did not meet their criteria for ease of use, deployment, applicability to widespread installation base, or stability ([Redhat Bugzilla](https://bugzilla.redhat.com/showbug.cgi?id=CVE-2020-25636)).

Additional resources


SourceThis report was generated using AI

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