# CVE-2017-12148: Code injection in Ansible Tower

> Attackers with commit access can inject malicious git hooks via SCM repositories, leading to arbitrary code execution on the Ansible Tower server.

- **Severity:** High 8.4 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Jul 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fxg8-q29x-8w2q

## What is CVE-2017-12148?

CVE-2017-12148 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 27 Jul 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A flaw was found in Ansible Tower's interface before 3.1.5 and 3.2.0 with SCM repositories. If a Tower project (SCM repository) definition does not have the 'delete before update' flag set, an attacker with commit access to the upstream playbook source repository could create a Trojan playbook that, when executed by Tower, modifies the checked out SCM repository to add git hooks. These git hooks could, in turn, cause arbitrary command and code execution as the user Tower runs as.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12148?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Redhat Ansible Tower, Redhat Cloudforms.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12148?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-12148 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12148 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Ansible Tower

- [CVE-2018-10884](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-10884/): Cross-site request forgery in ansible-tower (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-1104](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1104/): Code injection in Ansible Tower (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-14890](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14890/): Information disclosure in Tower (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2019-19340](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19340/): Misconfiguration in Tower (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2016-7070](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7070/): Privilege escalation in Ansible Tower (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12148 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12148 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 27 Jul 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12148 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Ansible Tower. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12148/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12148/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12148
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12148
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12148

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12148/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.