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CVE-2021-20228

25
FAUCET Score

CVE-2021-20228 is a confidentiality flaw in Ansible Engine versions up to 2.9.18, affecting various Ansible Automation Platform and Debian Linux products. This vulnerability allows sensitive information to be exposed due to improper masking and a bypass of the no_log feature within the basic.py module's sub-option. Rated 7.5 HIGH on CVSS, it presents a network-exploitable, low-complexity threat with high confidentiality impact. There is currently no evidence of active exploitation, publicly available exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion or media coverage.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
2.9.18CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_engine:2.9.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.2CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_automation_platform:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
2.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_engine:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
2.9CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_engine:2.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
3.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_tower:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

7.5HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
NONE
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
2.04%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
79.2%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0204 is in the 63rd percentile among its peer group of 51,551 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.1 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (17)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 18981-16823Fixed in: 2.12.1-1
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: cbl2 ansible 2.12.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0Fixed in: 2.12.1-1
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: cm1 ansible 2.9.23-1 on CBL Mariner 1.0Fixed in: 2.9.23-1
microsoftpatch availablevia msrc
Product: 18980-16820Fixed in: 2.9.23-1
pippatch availablevia ghsa
Product: ansibleFixed in: 2.10.6rc1
pippatch availablevia ghsa
Product: ansibleFixed in: 2.9.18rc1
pippatch availablevia ghsa
Product: ansibleFixed in: 2.8.19rc1
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 1.2 for RHEL 7Fixed in: ansible-automation-platform/platform-resource-runner-rhel7:v0.1.0-15
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Engine 2.9 for RHEL 7Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el7ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Engine 2.9 for RHEL 8Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el8ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Engine 2 for RHEL 7Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el7ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Engine 2 for RHEL 8Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el8ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Virtualization 4 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el8ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Virtualization Engine 4.4Fixed in: ansible-0:2.9.18-1.el8ae
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 1.2 for RHEL 7Fixed in: ansible-automation-platform/platform-resource-rhel7-operator:v0.1.0-12
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 1.2 for RHEL 7Fixed in: ansible-automation-platform/platform-resource-operator-bundle:v0.1.1-1
View patch

Vendor Advisories (3)

pipGHSA-5rrg-rr89-x9mvhigh

Ansible Exposes Sensitive Information

May 25, 2022
microsoft2021-Apr/CVE-2021-20228Important

A flaw was found in the Ansible Engine 2.9.18 where sensitive info is not masked by default and is not protected by the no_log feature when using the sub-option feature of the basic.py module. This flaw allows an attacker to obtain sensitive information. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

Apr 13, 2021
redhatCVE-2021-20228Moderate

ansible: basic.py no_log with fallback option

Jan 29, 2021

References

bugzilla.redhat.com / show_bug.cgi
Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
github.com / ansible/ansible/pull/73487
PatchThird Party Advisory
debian.org / security/2021/dsa-4950
Third Party Advisory