# 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.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2q78-vv73-5vr2, RHSA-2022:0460, RHSA-2022:0474

## 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 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-4112?

It affects 4 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `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: 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](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4237/): Platform: ec2_key module prints out the private key directly to the standard output (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2021-3583](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3583/): Improper Input Validation and Command Injection in Ansible (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2025-9907](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-9907/): Event-driven-ansible: event stream test mode exposes sensitive headers in aap eda (medium 6.7)
- [CVE-2025-9908](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-9908/): Event-driven-ansible: sensitive internal headers disclosure in aap eda event streams (medium 6.7)
- [CVE-2025-9909](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-9909/): Aap-gateway: improper path validation in gateway allows credential exfiltration (medium 6.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-4112 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-4112 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-2021-4112/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4112/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-4112
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-4112
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-4112

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4112/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.