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CVE-2018-16859· NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

Execution of Ansible playbooks on Windows platforms with PowerShell ScriptBlock logging and Module logging enabled can allow for 'become' pa

Execution of Ansible playbooks on Windows platforms with PowerShell ScriptBlock logging and Module logging enabled can allow for 'become' passwords to appear in EventLogs in plaintext. A local user with administrator privileges on the machine can view these logs and discover the plaintext password. Ansible Engine 2.8 and older are believed to be vulnerable.

MediumCVSS 4.4 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Nov 29, 2018
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.5% · 44th percentile
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Action score

17

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
17 / 40 · 4.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.5%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
4.4
CNA · redhat
4.2
0.2 point gap

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Noroxi analysis

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
redhatansible engine

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • redhat ansible enginebefore 2.5.13
  • redhat ansible engine2.6.0 and later · before 2.6.10
  • redhat ansible engine2.7.0 and later · before 2.7.4
  • redhat ansible engine2.7.5 and later · up to 2.8 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Red Hat ansible

    • 2.8 and olderaffected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.9ansiblebefore 2.7.3-r02.7.3-r0
openSUSE:Tumbleweedansible-10before 10.6.0-1.110.6.0-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedansible-11before 11.11.0-1.111.11.0-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedansible-12before 12.2.0-1.112.2.0-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedansible-13before 13.7.0-1.113.7.0-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedansible-9before 9.8.0-1.19.8.0-1.1
PyPIansiblefrom 2.6.0 · before 2.6.102.6.10
PyPIansiblefrom 2.6.0a1 · before 2.6.92.6.9
PyPIansiblefrom 2.7.0 · before 2.7.42.7.4
PyPIansiblefrom 2.7.0a1 · before 2.7.32.7.3
PyPIansiblefrom 2.7.5 · before 2.8.12.8.1
PyPIansiblebefore 2.5.132.5.13
PyPIansiblebefore 2.5.122.5.12
Red Hat:ansible_engine:2::el7ansiblebefore 0:2.7.4-1.el7ae0:2.7.4-1.el7ae
Red Hat:ansible_engine:2.5::el7ansiblebefore 0:2.5.13-1.el7ae0:2.5.13-1.el7ae
Red Hat:ansible_engine:2.5::el7ansible-docbefore 0:2.5.13-1.el7ae0:2.5.13-1.el7ae
Red Hat:ansible_engine:2.6::el7ansiblebefore 0:2.6.10-1.el7ae0:2.6.10-1.el7ae
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ansiblebefore 2.9.14-3.15.12.9.14-3.15.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-ansiblebefore 8.0+git.1596735237.54109b1-3.77.18.0+git.1596735237.54109b1-3.77.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-cinderbefore 8.0+git.1596129856.263f430-3.43.18.0+git.1596129856.263f430-3.43.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-glancebefore 8.0+git.1593631779.76fa9b7-3.24.18.0+git.1593631779.76fa9b7-3.24.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-mqbefore 8.0+git.1593618123.678c32b-3.26.18.0+git.1593618123.678c32b-3.26.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-novabefore 8.0+git.1601298847.dd01585-3.42.18.0+git.1601298847.dd01585-3.42.1
SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8ardana-osconfigbefore 8.0+git.1595885113.93abcbc-3.49.18.0+git.1595885113.93abcbc-3.49.1

+69

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2021-20228A flaw was found in the Ansible Engine 2.9.18, where sensitive info is not masked by default and is not protected by the no_log feature when
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2020-1737A flaw was found in Ansible 2.7.17 and prior, 2.8.9 and prior, and 2.9.6 and prior when using the Extract-Zip function from the win_unzip mo
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2019-14846In Ansible, all Ansible Engine versions up to ansible-engine 2.8.5, ansible-engine 2.7.13, ansible-engine 2.6.19, were logging at the DEBUG
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2018-16837Ansible "User" module leaks any data which is passed on as a parameter to ssh-keygen.
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2018-10875A flaw was found in ansible.
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2018-10874In ansible it was found that inventory variables are loaded from current working directory when running ad-hoc command which are under attac
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:ansible2.7.3-r0 · Alpine:v3.9Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible2.7.8-bp150.3.6.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.0Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible-1010.6.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible-1111.11.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible-1212.2.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible-1313.7.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:ansible-99.8.0-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.5.12Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.5.13Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.6.10Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.6.9Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.7.3Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.7.4Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:ansible2.8.1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:ansible0:2.5.13-1.el7ae · Red Hat:ansible_engine:2.5::el7Package registry (OSV)
red hat:ansible-doc0:2.5.13-1.el7ae · Red Hat:ansible_engine:2.5::el7Package registry (OSV)
suse:ansible2.7.8-bp150.3.6.1 · SUSE:Package Hub 12Package registry (OSV)
suse:ansible2.9.14-3.15.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-ansible8.0+git.1596735237.54109b1-3.77.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-cinder8.0+git.1596129856.263f430-3.43.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-glance8.0+git.1593631779.76fa9b7-3.24.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-mq8.0+git.1593618123.678c32b-3.26.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-nova8.0+git.1601298847.dd01585-3.42.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:ardana-osconfig8.0+git.1595885113.93abcbc-3.49.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:documentation-hpe-helion-openstack-installation8.20201007-1.29.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:documentation-hpe-helion-openstack-operations8.20201007-1.29.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:documentation-hpe-helion-openstack-opsconsole8.20201007-1.29.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:documentation-hpe-helion-openstack-planning8.20201007-1.29.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)
suse:documentation-hpe-helion-openstack-security8.20201007-1.29.1 · SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

All records