# CVE-2020-1734: OS Command Injection in ansible

> Attackers can execute arbitrary commands by overwriting Ansible facts due to unsafe subprocess usage in the pipe lookup plugin.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/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:** 3 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-1734, GHSA-h39q-95q5-9jfp, PYSEC-2020-6, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-1734

## What is CVE-2020-1734?

CVE-2020-1734 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 3 Mar 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

A flaw was found in the pipe lookup plugin of ansible. Arbitrary commands can be run, when the pipe lookup plugin uses subprocess.Popen() with shell=True, by overwriting ansible facts and the variable is not escaped by quote plugin. An attacker could take advantage and run arbitrary commands by overwriting the ansible facts.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1734?

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


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ansible` | PyPI | All versions | 2.7.17 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | All versions | 2.8.13 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | All versions | 2.8.13 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.10.0a1 | 2.10.0rc1 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.10.0a1 | 2.10.0rc1 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.9.0a1 | 2.9.11 |
| `ansible` | PyPI | From 2.9.0a1 | 2.9.11 |

Products: Redhat Ansible Engine, Redhat Ansible Tower.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-1734?

Upgrade ansible to a fixed version for your release line: 2.7.17, 2.8.13, 2.10.0rc1 or 2.9.11.

## Is CVE-2020-1734 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1734 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Ansible Tower

- [CVE-2018-10874](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-10874/): Ansible Improper Input Validation vulnerability (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-1737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1737/): Path Traversal in Ansible (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2019-14858](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14858/): Ansible leaks sensitive information to logs when told not to (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2020-10691](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10691/): Path Traversal in Ansible (medium 5.2)
- [CVE-2018-16859](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-16859/): Ansible Logs Passwords If PowerShell ScriptBlock is Enabled (medium 4.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1734 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-1734 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 3 Mar 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-2020-1734 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- ansible (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.7.17
- ansible (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.8.13
- ansible (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 2.8.13
- 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 2.9.0a1; fixed in 2.9.11
- ansible (PyPI): affected from 2.9.0a1; fixed in 2.9.11

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-2020-1734/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1734/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1734
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1734
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1734

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1734/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.