# CVE-2020-10744: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere and Insecure Temporary File in Ansible

> Attackers can exploit a race condition in Ansible's temporary directory handling on systems with ACLs or FUSE to escalate privileges or execute code.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 May 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-10744, GHSA-vp9j-rghq-8jhh, PYSEC-2020-208, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-10744

## What is CVE-2020-10744?

CVE-2020-10744 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 15 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An incomplete fix was found for the fix of the flaw CVE-2020-1733 ansible: insecure temporary directory when running become_user from become directive. The provided fix is insufficient to prevent the race condition on systems using ACLs and FUSE filesystems. Ansible Engine 2.7.18, 2.8.12, and 2.9.9 as well as previous versions are affected and Ansible Tower 3.4.5, 3.5.6 and 3.6.4 as well as previous versions are affected.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization), CWE-377 (DEPRECATED: Insecure Temporary File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-10744?

5 open source packages ship an affected version, including ansible. It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ansible` | PyPI | All versions | 2.9.12 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | All versions | 2.9.12 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.10.0a1 | 2.10.0rc1 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.10.0a1 | 2.10.0rc1 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.7.0 | 2.8.0a1, 2.8.13, 2.9.10 |

Products: Redhat Ansible, Redhat Ansible Tower.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-10744?

Upgrade ansible to a fixed version for your release line: 2.9.12, 2.10.0rc1, 2.8.0a1 or 2.8.13.

## Is CVE-2020-10744 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10744 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Ansible Tower

- [CVE-2014-4657](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-4657/): Ansible Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-4966](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-4966/): Ansible Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-4967](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-4967/): Ansible Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-7550](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7550/): Ansible Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File vulnerability (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-3498](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3498/): Ansible Arbitrary Code Execution (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-10744 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-10744 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 15 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10744 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- ansible (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.9.12
- ansible (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.9.12
- ansible (PyPI): affected from 2.10.0a1; fixed in 2.10.0rc1
- ansible (PyPI): affected from 2.10.0a1; fixed in 2.10.0rc1
- ansible (PyPI): affected from 2.7.0; fixed in 2.8.0a1, 2.8.13, 2.9.10

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-2020-10744/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10744/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-10744
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10744
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-10744

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10744/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.