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The CVE-2020-1737 vulnerability exists within the `aws_ssm` connection plugin for Ansible. This plugin facilitates communication with EC2 instances via the AWS Systems Manager (SSM) agent. During normal operation, the plugin transfers files, such as the Ansible module payload, to a temporary directory on the target instance by first uploading them to an S3 bucket. A garbage collection mechanism is supposed to remove these temporary files from the S3 bucket after the playbook execution concludes. The flaw is that this garbage collection process does not trigger reliably. Consequently, sensitive files containing module arguments and other execution data persist indefinitely in the S3 bucket. Any entity with appropriate S3 bucket list or read permissions can then discover and access these leftover files, leading to a potential information disclosure of confidential playbook execution details.
Platform: Ansible
Version: <=2.9.x
Vulnerability: Information Disclosure
Severity: Moderate
date: 2020-10-05
Prediction: Patched 2020-10-13
What Undercode Say:
Check Ansible version ansible --version Example command using aws_ssm connection ansible -i inventory.ini all -m debug -a "msg='test'" --connection=aws_ssm Inspect S3 buckets for leftover files (manual check) aws s3 ls s3://ansible-temporary-bucket/ --recursive
Sample task using the vulnerable connection plugin - name: A task using aws_ssm hosts: all connection: aws_ssm tasks: - debug: msg: "This task might leak data to S3"
How Exploit:
An attacker with access to the S3 bucket used by the `aws_ssm` plugin can list its contents and download residual temporary files. These files contain the exact arguments and data sent to modules during playbook runs, which could include passwords, keys, or other sensitive configuration data.
Protection from this CVE:
Upgrade Ansible.
Restrict S3 permissions.
Manually clean S3.
Impact:
Confidentiality breach.
Sensitive data exposure.
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Sources:
Reported By: github.com
Extra Source Hub:
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