GHSA-hwrm-63v2-42g4 CVE-2018-16837 PYSEC-2018-44

Ansible Leaks Data Passed to ssh-keygen

High PyPI

Severity: 0.0 / 10; High · CVSS 4.0
Exploit chance (EPSS): 0.36%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 30.38% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: No; Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness: CWE-311 Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data
Fix: 2.7.1; Upgrade ansible to this version or later

Description

Ansible "User" module leaks any data which is passed on as a parameter to ssh-keygen. This could lean in undesirable situations such as passphrases credentials passed as a parameter for the ssh-keygen executable. Showing those credentials in clear text form for every user which have access just to the process list.

Affected versions

PyPI

Package	Vulnerable	Fixed in
ansible	`>= 2.7.0a1, < 2.7.1`	`2.7.1`
ansible	`>= 2.6.0a1, < 2.6.7`	`2.6.7`
ansible	`< 2.5.11`	`2.5.11`
ansible	`>= 2.7, < 2.7.1` `>= 2.6, < 2.6.7` `< 2.5.11`	`2.5.11` `2.6.7` `2.7.1`

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

ansible PyPI → `2.7.1`

pip

pip install --upgrade "ansible>=2.7.1"

poetry

poetry add "ansible>=2.7.1"

uv

uv add "ansible>=2.7.1"

Severity breakdown

CVSS 4.0 0.0

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack vector: Local
Attack complexity: Low
Attack requirements: None
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Confidentiality (vulnerable system): High
Integrity (vulnerable system): High
Availability (vulnerable system): High
Confidentiality (subsequent systems): None
Integrity (subsequent systems): None
Availability (subsequent systems): None

CVSS 3.0 7.8

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

Attack vector: Local
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Weakness

CWE-311: Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data

The product does not encrypt sensitive or critical information before storage or transmission.

How to prevent it

Requirements: Clearly specify which data or resources are valuable enough that they should be protected by encryption. Require that any transmission or storage of this data/resource should use well-vetted encryption algorithms.
Architecture and Design: Ensure that encryption is properly integrated into the system design, including but not necessarily limited to: Encryption that is needed to store or transmit private data of the users of the system Encryption that is needed to protect the system itself from unauthorized disclosure or tampering Identify the separate needs and contexts for encryption: One-way (i.e., only the user or recipient needs to have the key). This can be achieved using public key cryptography, or other techniques in which the encrypting party (i.e., the product) does not need to have access to a private key. Two-way (i.e., the encryption can be automatically performed on behalf of a user, but the key must be available so that the plaintext can be automatically recoverable by that user). This requires storage of the private key in a format that is recoverable only by the user (or perhaps by the operating system) in a way that cannot be recovered by others. Using threat modeling or other techniques, assume that data can be compromised through a separate vulnerability or weakness, and determine where encryption will be most effective. Ensure that data that should be private is not being inadvertently exposed using weaknesses such as insecure permissions (CWE-732). [REF-7]
Architecture and Design: When there is a need to store or transmit sensitive data, use strong, up-to-date cryptographic algorithms to encrypt that data. Select a well-vetted algorithm that is currently considered to be strong by experts in the field, and use well-tested implementations. As with all cryptographic mechanisms, the source code should be available for analysis. For example, US government systems require FIPS 140-2 certification. Do not develop custom or private cryptographic algorithms. They will likely be exposed to attacks that are well-understood by cryptographers. Reverse engineering techniques are mature. If the algorithm can be compromised if attackers find out how it works, then it is especially weak. Periodically ensure that the cryptography has not become obsolete. Some older algorithms, once thought to require a billion years of computing time, can now be broken in days or hours. This includes MD4, MD5, SHA1, DES, and other algorithms that were once regarded as strong. [REF-267]
Architecture and Design: Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
Implementation, Architecture and Design: When using industry-approved techniques, use them correctly. Don't cut corners by skipping resource-intensive steps (CWE-325). These steps are often essential for preventing common attacks.
Implementation: Use naming conventions and strong types to make it easier to spot when sensitive data is being used. When creating structures, objects, or other complex entities, separate the sensitive and non-sensitive data as much as possible.

References

Advisories

Packages

github.com/ansible/ansible

Timeline

Oct 23, 2018 Published
Jun 10, 2026 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
GHSA-8ggh-xwr9-3373 Ansible Community General Collection is vulnerable to exposure of sensitive information	Medium	Also affects ansible
GHSA-jpvw-p8pr-9g2x Ansible symlink attack vulnerability	Medium	Also affects ansible
GHSA-cpx3-93w7-457x Ansible leaks password to logs	High	Also affects ansible
GHSA-fh5v-5f35-2rv2 Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File in ansible	Medium	Also affects ansible
GHSA-4r65-35qq-ch8j Ansible discloses sensitive information in traceback error message	Medium	Also affects ansible
GHSA-2pfh-q76x-gwvm Improper Input Validation and Command Injection in Ansible	High	Also affects ansible
PYSEC-2021-126 A flaw was found in Ansible if an ansible user sets ANSIBLE_ASYNC_DIR to a subdirectory of a world writable directory.	Not rated yet	Also affects ansible
GHSA-r6h7-5pq2-j77h Insufficiently random values in Ansible	Medium	Also affects ansible

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