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CVE-2018-16859

Execution of Ansible playbooks on Windows platforms with PowerShell ScriptBlock logging and Module logging enabled can allow for 'become' passwords to appear in EventLogs in plaintext. A local user with administrator privileges on the machine can view these logs and discover the plaintext password. Ansible Engine 2.8 and older are believed to be vulnerable.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.2, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from redhat organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2018, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2018-11-29T18:29:00.537

Last Modified

2024-11-21T03:53:27.863

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 4.2 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: NONE

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Secondary
CWE-532
Type: Primary
CWE-532

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	redhat	ansible_engine	< 2.5.13	Yes
Application	redhat	ansible_engine	< 2.6.10	Yes
Application	redhat	ansible_engine	< 2.7.4	Yes
Application	redhat	ansible_engine	≤ 2.8	Yes

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00021.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-06/msg00077.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-08/msg00020.html ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106004 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3770 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3771 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3772 Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3773 Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16859 Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/49142 Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00021.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-06/msg00077.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-08/msg00020.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106004 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3770 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3771 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3772 Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3773 Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-16859 Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/49142 Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For redhat's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.