CVE-2021-4112 Privilege escalation in ansible-tower
An attacker can escape job isolation to elevate privileges from a low-privileged user to an AWX user in Ansible Tower.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-4112?
CVE-2021-4112 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Ansible Tower, published on 25 Aug 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A flaw was found in ansible-tower where the default installation is vulnerable to job isolation escape. This flaw allows an attacker to elevate the privilege from a low privileged user to an AWX user from outside the isolated environment.
Weakness: CWE-552
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-4112?
It affects 4 products.
Linux distribution packages (4)
ansible-runner Red Hat:ansible_automation_platform:2.0::el8 | All versions | 0:2.0.3-3.el8ap |
python38-ansible-runner Red Hat:ansible_automation_platform:2.0::el8 | All versions | 0:2.0.3-3.el8ap |
ansible-runner Red Hat:ansible_automation_platform:2.1::el8 | All versions | 0:2.1.1-2.el8ap |
python38-ansible-runner Red Hat:ansible_automation_platform:2.1::el8 | All versions | 0:2.1.1-2.el8ap |
Products include Redhat Ansible Automation Platform, Redhat Ansible Automation Platform Early Access, Redhat Ansible Automation Platform Text-Only Advisories, Redhat Ansible Tower.
How do I fix CVE-2021-4112?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2021-4112 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-4112 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Ansible Tower
- CVE-2023-4237 Platform: ec2_key module prints out the private key directly to the standard output
- CVE-2021-3583 Improper Input Validation and Command Injection in Ansible
- CVE-2025-9907 Event-driven-ansible: event stream test mode exposes sensitive headers in aap eda
- CVE-2025-9908 Event-driven-ansible: sensitive internal headers disclosure in aap eda event streams
- CVE-2025-9909 Aap-gateway: improper path validation in gateway allows credential exfiltration
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2q78-vv73-5vr2, RHSA-2022:0460, RHSA-2022:0474.