CVE-2020-10697

Service degradation via writable TCP memcached cache

Published May 27, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Missing authorization in Red Hat Ansible Tower on OpenShift before 3.4.6, 3.5.6, or 3.6.4 allows local users to degrade performance. Tower exposes memcached over TCP and permits playbook-driven writes that can pollute cache entries later consumed as settings. Low-privileged playbook access is required, and the resulting slowdown does not completely stop the service; sensitive cached values remain encrypted.

CVSS severity4.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Missing authorization in Red Hat Ansible Tower on OpenShift before 3.4.6, 3.5.6, or 3.6.4 allows local users to degrade performance. Tower exposes memcached over TCP and permits playbook-driven writes that can pollute cache entries later consumed as settings. Low-privileged playbook access is required, and the resulting slowdown does not completely stop the service; sensitive cached values remain encrypted.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-10697
Published
May 27, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Ansible Tower
Classifications
CWE-862, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 27, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=ansible_tower 3.6.4, ansible_tower 3.5.6, ansible_tower 3.4.6

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Ansible Towerversion=ansible_tower 3.6.4, ansible_tower 3.5.6, ansible_tower 3.4.6

Published CVSS scores

3.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P
4.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-862Missing Authorization
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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