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.

There are packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability referenced in the following CVE:

  - 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. (CVE-2018-16859)

This update for ansible fixes the following issues :

Ansible was updated to version 2.8.1 :

Full changelog is at /usr/share/doc/packages/ansible/changelogs/

  - Bugfixes

  - ACI - DO not encode query_string

  - ACI modules - Fix non-signature authentication

  - Add missing directory provided via ``--playbook-dir`` to     adjacent collection loading

  - Fix 'Interface not found' errors when using     eos_l2_interface with non-existent interfaces configured

  - Fix cannot get credential when `source_auth` set to     `credential_file`.

  - Fix netconf_config backup string issue

  - Fix privilege escalation support for the docker     connection plugin when credentials need to be supplied     (e.g. sudo with password).

  - Fix vyos cli prompt inspection

  - Fixed loading namespaced documentation fragments from     collections.

  - Fixing bug came up after running cnos_vrf module against     coverity.

  - Properly handle data importer failures on PVC creation,     instead of timing out.

  - To fix the ios static route TC failure in CI

  - To fix the nios member module params

  - To fix the nios_zone module idempotency failure

  - add terminal initial prompt for initial connection

  - allow include_role to work with ansible command

  - allow python_requirements_facts to report on     dependencies containing dashes

  - asa_config fix

  - azure_rm_roledefinition - fix a small error in build     scope.

  - azure_rm_virtualnetworkpeering - fix cross subscriptions     virtual network peering.

  - cgroup_perf_recap - When not using file_per_task, make     sure we don't prematurely close the perf files

  - display underlying error when reporting an invalid     ``tasks:`` block.

  - dnf - fix wildcard matching for state: absent

  - docker connection plugin - accept version ``dev`` as     'newest version' and print warning.

  - docker_container - ``oom_killer`` and ``oom_score_adj``     options are available since docker-py 1.8.0, not 2.0.0     as assumed by the version check.

  - docker_container - fix network creation when     ``networks_cli_compatible`` is enabled.

  - docker_container - use docker API's ``restart`` instead     of ``stop``/``start`` to restart a container.

  - docker_image - if ``build`` was not specified, the wrong     default for ``build.rm`` is used.

  - docker_image - if ``nocache`` set to ``yes`` but not     ``build.nocache``, the module failed.

  - docker_image - module failed when ``source: build`` was     set but ``build.path`` options not specified.

  - docker_network module - fix idempotency when using     ``aux_addresses`` in ``ipam_config``.

  - ec2_instance - make Name tag idempotent

  - eos: don't fail modules without become set, instead show     message and continue

  - eos_config: check for session support when asked to     'diff_against: session'

  - eos_eapi: fix idempotency issues when vrf was     unspecified.

  - fix bugs for ce - more info see

  - fix incorrect uses of to_native that should be to_text     instead.

  - hcloud_volume - Fix idempotency when attaching a server     to a volume.

  - ibm_storage - Added a check for null fields in     ibm_storage utils module.

  - include_tasks - whitelist ``listen`` as a valid keyword

  - k8s - resource updates applied with force work correctly     now

  - keep results subset also when not no_log.

  - meraki_switchport - improve reliability with native VLAN     functionality.

  - netapp_e_iscsi_target - fix netapp_e_iscsi_target chap     secret size and clearing functionality

  - netapp_e_volumes - fix workload profileId indexing when     no previous workload tags exist on the storage array.

  - nxos_acl some platforms/versions raise when no ACLs are     present

  - nxos_facts fix     <https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/57009>

  - nxos_file_copy fix passwordless workflow

  - nxos_interface Fix admin_state check for n6k

  - nxos_snmp_traps fix group all for N35 platforms

  - nxos_snmp_user fix platform fixes for get_snmp_user

  - nxos_vlan mode idempotence bug

  - nxos_vlan vlan names containing regex ctl chars should     be escaped

  - nxos_vtp_* modules fix n6k issues

  - openssl_certificate - fix private key passphrase     handling for ``cryptography`` backend.

  - openssl_pkcs12 - fixes crash when private key has a     passphrase and the module is run a second time.

  - os_stack - Apply tags conditionally so that the module     does not throw up an error when using an older distro of     openstacksdk

  - pass correct loading context to persistent connections     other than local

  - pkg_mgr - Ansible 2.8.0 failing to install yum packages     on Amazon Linux

  - postgresql - added initial SSL related tests

  - postgresql - added missing_required_libs, removed excess     param mapping

  - postgresql - move connect_to_db and get_pg_version into     module_utils/postgres.py     (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/55514)

  - postgresql_db - add note to the documentation about     state dump and the incorrect rc     (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/57297)

  - postgresql_db - fix for postgresql_db fails if stderr     contains output

  - postgresql_ping - fixed a typo in the module     documentation

  - preserve actual ssh error when we cannot connect.

  - route53_facts - the module did not advertise check mode     support, causing it not to be run in check mode.

  - sysctl: the module now also checks the output of STDERR     to report if values are correctly set     (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/55695)

  - ufw - correctly check status when logging is off

  - uri - always return a value for status even during     failure

  - urls - Handle redirects properly for IPv6 address by not     splitting on ``:`` and rely on already parsed hostname     and port values

  - vmware_vm_facts - fix the support with regular ESXi

  - vyos_interface fix     <https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/57169>

  - we don't really need to template vars on definition as     we do this on demand in templating.

  - win_acl - Fix qualifier parser when using UNC paths -

  - win_hostname - Fix non netbios compliant name handling

  - winrm - Fix issue when attempting to parse CLIXML on     send input failure

  - xenserver_guest - fixed an issue where VM whould be     powered off even though check mode is used if     reconfiguration requires VM to be powered off.

  - xenserver_guest - proper error message is shown when     maximum number of network interfaces is reached and     multiple network interfaces are added at once.

  - yum - Fix false error message about autoremove not being     supported

  - yum - fix failure when using ``update_cache`` standalone

  - yum - handle special '_none_' value for proxy in     yum.conf and .repo files

Update to version 2.8.0

Major changes :

  - Experimental support for Ansible Collections and content     namespacing - Ansible content can now be packaged in a     collection and addressed via namespaces. This allows for     easier sharing, distribution, and installation of     bundled modules/roles/plugins, and consistent rules for     accessing specific content via namespaces.

  - Python interpreter discovery - The first time a Python     module runs on a target, Ansible will attempt to     discover the proper default Python interpreter to use     for the target platform/version (instead of immediately     defaulting to /usr/bin/python). You can override this     behavior by setting ansible_python_interpreter or via     config. (see     https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/50163)

  - become - The deprecated CLI arguments for --sudo,
    --sudo-user,

    --ask-sudo-pass, -su, --su-user, and --ask-su-pass have     been removed, in favor of the more generic --become,
    --become-user, --become-method, and

    --ask-become-pass.

  - become - become functionality has been migrated to a     plugin architecture, to allow customization of become     functionality and 3rd party become methods     (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/50991)

  - addresses CVE-2018-16859, CVE-2018-16876, CVE-2019-3828,     CVE-2018-16837

For the full changelog see /usr/share/doc/packages/ansible/changelogs or online:
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.8/changelogs/CHANGELO G-v2.8.rst

This update for ansible to version 2.7.8 fixes the following issues :

Security issues fixed: &#9; 

  - CVE-2018-16837: Fixed an information leak in user module     (bsc#1112959).

  - CVE-2018-16859: Fixed an issue which clould allow     logging of password in plaintext in Windows powerShell     (bsc#1116587).

  - CVE-2019-3828: Fixed a path traversal vulnerability in     fetch module (bsc#1126503).

  - CVE-2018-10875: Fixed a potential code execution in     ansible.cfg (bsc#1099808).

  - CVE-2018-16876: Fixed an issue which could allow     information disclosure in vvv+ mode with no_log on     (bsc#1118896).

Other issues addressed :

  - prepare update to 2.7.8 for multiple releases     (boo#1102126, boo#1109957)

Release notes:
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/stable-2.7/changelogs/CHANGELO G-v2.7.rst#id1

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2018:3773 advisory.

    Ansible is a simple model-driven configuration management, multi-node deployment, and remote-task     execution system. Ansible works over SSH and does not require any software or daemons to be installed on     remote nodes. Extension modules can be written in any language and are transferred to managed machines     automatically.

    The following packages have been upgraded to a newer upstream version: ansible (2.7.4)

    Security fix(es):

    * ansible: become password logged in plaintext when used with PowerShell on Windows (CVE-2018-16859)

    For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related     information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

    Red Hat would like to thank Igor Turovsky for reporting this issue.

    Bug Fix(es):

    See https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/v2.7.4/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.7.rst for details on bug fixes     in this release.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2018:3772 advisory.

    Ansible is a simple model-driven configuration management, multi-node deployment, and remote-task     execution system. Ansible works over SSH and does not require any software or daemons to be installed on     remote nodes. Extension modules can be written in any language and are transferred to managed machines     automatically.

    The following packages have been upgraded to a newer upstream version: ansible (2.7.4)

    Security fix(es):

    * ansible: become password logged in plaintext when used with PowerShell on Windows (CVE-2018-16859)

    For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related     information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

    Red Hat would like to thank Igor Turovsky for reporting this issue.

    Bug Fix(es):

    See https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/v2.7.4/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.7.rst for details on bug fixes     in this release.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2018:3771 advisory.

    Ansible is a simple model-driven configuration management, multi-node deployment, and remote-task     execution system. Ansible works over SSH and does not require any software or daemons to be installed on     remote nodes. Extension modules can be written in any language and are transferred to managed machines     automatically.

    The following packages have been upgraded to a newer upstream version: ansible (2.6.10)

    Security fix(es):

    * ansible: become password logged in plaintext when used with PowerShell on Windows (CVE-2018-16859)

    For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related     information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

    Red Hat would like to thank Igor Turovsky for reporting this issue.

    Bug Fix(es):

    See https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/v2.6.10/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.6.rst for details on bug fixes     in this release.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2018:3770 advisory.

    Ansible is a simple model-driven configuration management, multi-node deployment, and remote-task     execution system. Ansible works over SSH and does not require any software or daemons to be installed on     remote nodes. Extension modules can be written in any language and are transferred to managed machines     automatically.

    The following packages have been upgraded to a newer upstream version: ansible (2.5.13)

    Security fix(es):

    * ansible: become password logged in plaintext when used with PowerShell on Windows (CVE-2018-16859)

    For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, and other related     information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

    Red Hat would like to thank Igor Turovsky for reporting this issue.

    Bug Fix(es):

    See https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/v2.5.13/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.5.rst for details on bug fixes     in this release.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
434431	SCA: security update for ansible (GHSA-v735-2pp6-h86r)	Tenable Cloud Security	SCA Checks	medium
434431	SCA: security update for ansible (GHSA-v735-2pp6-h86r)	Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security	SCA Checks	medium
403502	Alpine: multiple ansible packages: security update to 2.7.3-r0	Tenable Cloud Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	medium
403502	Alpine: multiple ansible packages: security update to 2.7.3-r0	Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security	Alpine Linux Local Security Checks	medium
126326	openSUSE Security Update : ansible (openSUSE-2019-1635)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
123669	openSUSE Security Update : ansible (openSUSE-2019-1125)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
119488	RHEL 7 : ansible (RHSA-2018:3773)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium
119487	RHEL 7 : ansible (RHSA-2018:3772)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium
119486	RHEL 7 : ansible (RHSA-2018:3771)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium
119485	RHEL 7 : ansible (RHSA-2018:3770)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	medium

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2018-16859

medium

Tenable Plugins

medium

medium

medium

medium

high

high

medium

medium

medium

medium