CVE-2025-2877
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Ansible Automation Platform's Event-Driven Ansible exposes inventory passwords in plain text when debug verbosity is enabled during rulebook activation. It affects any debug action in rulebooks and Event Streams, potentially allowing attackers to obtain sensitive credentials. Organizations using Ansible Automation Platform with debug logging enabled are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Ansible Automation Platform
- Event-Driven Ansible
- Ansible Rulebooks
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers gain access to inventory passwords, leading to lateral movement, privilege escalation, and complete compromise of managed systems.
Likely Case
Unauthorized users with access to logs or debug output can harvest credentials for targeted attacks on infrastructure.
If Mitigated
With debug logging disabled and proper access controls, exposure is limited to authorized administrators only.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires access to debug logs or output where passwords are exposed
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions specified in RHSA-2025:3636 and RHSA-2025:3637
Vendor Advisory: https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:3636
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update Ansible Automation Platform using Red Hat Satellite or repository. 2. Apply patches for affected components. 3. Restart Event-Driven Ansible services. 4. Verify debug logging no longer exposes passwords.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Debug Verbosity
linuxSet verbosity to levels below 'debug' in all rulebook configurations
ansible-config set DEFAULT_VERBOSITY=2
Edit rulebook YAML files to remove 'verbosity: debug'
Restrict Log Access
linuxImplement strict file permissions and access controls on Ansible log directories
chmod 640 /var/log/ansible/*
setfacl -m u:ansible:r-x /var/log/ansible/
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Immediately disable debug verbosity in all rulebook configurations
- Rotate all inventory passwords and implement credential monitoring
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if any rulebook configurations have 'verbosity: debug' set and test activation to see if passwords appear in logsCheck Version:
ansible --version | grep 'ansible package'Verify Fix Applied:
After patching, test rulebook activation with debug verbosity and confirm passwords are masked in output📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Plaintext passwords in ansible.log files
- Debug output containing 'password=' or similar patterns
Network Indicators:
- Unusual authentication attempts from systems that accessed debug logs
SIEM Query:
source="ansible.log" AND "password=" AND "debug"