Ansible up to 1.6.3 safe_eval injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in Ansible up to 1.6.3. This vulnerability affects the function safe_eval. This manipulation causes injection. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2014-4678. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Ansible up to 1.6.3 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function safe_eval. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a injection vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-74. The product constructs all or part of a command, data structure, or record using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify how it is parsed or interpreted when it is sent to a downstream component. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

The safe_eval function in Ansible before 1.6.4 does not properly restrict the code subset, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted instructions. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-4657.

The weakness was published 04/21/2023 as 5429b85b9f6c2e640074176f36ff05fd5e4d1916. The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2014-4678 since 06/26/2014. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/21/2023). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1055 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 1.6.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 5429b85b9f6c2e640074176f36ff05fd5e4d1916 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

• Ansible

Version

• 1.6.0
• 1.6.1
• 1.6.2
• 1.6.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/ansible/ansible/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion