CVE-2020-10744

Become-user control via temporary-directory race

Published May 15, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Insecure temporary file handling in Ansible Engine 2.7.18 and earlier allows local users to gain become-user control via a race. The become_user path creates temporary directories with mkdir -p on ACL or FUSE filesystems, leaving a window for another local user to substitute or control the directory. Exploitation requires low local privileges and user interaction with a become operation; impact can include reading or modifying files handled under the become account.

CVSS severity5.0
Medium
EPSS probability0.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Insecure temporary file handling in Ansible Engine 2.7.18 and earlier allows local users to gain become-user control via a race. The become_user path creates temporary directories with mkdir -p on ACL or FUSE filesystems, leaving a window for another local user to substitute or control the directory. Exploitation requires low local privileges and user interaction with a become operation; impact can include reading or modifying files handled under the become account.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-10744
Published
May 15, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Ansible
Classifications
CWE-377, CWE-362, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 15, 2020CVE 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

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=ansible-engine 2.7.18 and prior
  2. Affected versionversion=ansible-engine 2.8.12 and prior
  3. Affected versionversion=ansible-engine 2.9.9 and prior
  4. Affected versionversion=ansible-tower 3.4.5 and prior
  5. Affected versionversion=ansible-tower 3.5.6 and prior
  6. Affected versionversion=ansible-tower 3.6.4 and prior

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Ansibleversion=ansible-engine 2.7.18 and prior; version=ansible-engine 2.8.12 and prior; version=ansible-engine 2.9.9 and prior; version=ansible-tower 3.4.5 and prior; version=ansible-tower 3.5.6 and prior; version=ansible-tower 3.6.4 and prior

Published CVSS scores

5.0Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
3.7NVDAV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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-377Insecure Temporary File
CWE-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo