Missing authorization in Tower
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · Low
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-862.
Summary
A flaw was found in Ansible Tower when running Openshift. Tower runs a memcached, which is accessed via TCP. An attacker can take advantage of writing a playbook polluting this cache, causing a denial of service attack. This attack would not completely stop the service, but in the worst-case scenario, it can reduce the Tower performance, for which memcached is designed. Theoretically, more sophisticated attacks can be performed by manipulating and crafting the cache, as Tower relies on memcached as a place to pull out setting values. Confidential and sensitive data stored in memcached should not be pulled, as this information is encrypted. This flaw affects Ansible Tower versions before 3.6.4, Ansible Tower versions before 3.5.6 and Ansible Tower versions before 3.4.6.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Tower | ansible_tower 3.6.4, ansible_tower 3.5.6, ansible_tower 3.4.6 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- Tower Vendor— Affected ansible_tower 3.6.4, ansible_tower 3.5.6, ansible_tower 3.4.6 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_tower:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 3.4.6; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.6; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.4 | Vulnerable | Red Hat |
- cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_tower:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 3.4.6; 3.5.0 to before 3.5.6; 3.6.0 to before 3.6.4 Vulnerable ·Red Hat
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Tower 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-10697
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-rhg6-3qw6-38pp
References
More Red Hat Ansible Tower vulnerabilities
- TI-2018-12447 Git before 2.14.5, 2.15.x before 2.15.3, 2.16.x before 2.16.5, 2.17.x before 2.17.2… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2015-07641 _XcursorThemeInherits in library.c in libXcursor before 1.1.15 allows remote attackers to… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-09275 The get_cookies function in soup-cookie-jar.c in libsoup 2.63.2 allows attackers to have… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-00980 Improper input validation in [UNKNOWN] python CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2018-16030 Paramiko version 2.4.1, 2.3.2, 2.2.3, 2.1.5, 2.0.8, 1.18.5, 1.17.6 contains a Incorrect… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2018-10539 An issue was discovered in kwajd_read_headers in mspack/kwajd.c in libmspack before… CVSS 3.0HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2020-10697 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-10697 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-rhg6-3qw6-38pp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2020-10697 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences