CVE-2020-1740

Secret disclosure via temporary-file race

Published Mar 16, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Information disclosure in Red Hat Ansible 2.7.16 and earlier, 2.8.10 and earlier, and 2.9.6 and earlier allows local users to read vault secrets. VaultEditor._edit_file_helper closes the descriptor returned by mkstemp, then write_data deletes and recreates the plaintext temporary file by pathname, permitting a race to substitute a file with attacker-readable permissions. Exploitation requires another local account to win the race while ansible-vault edit handles a decrypted vault, exposing the old and newly edited secret without altering it.

CVSS severity3.9
Low
EPSS probability0.38%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Information disclosure in Red Hat Ansible 2.7.16 and earlier, 2.8.10 and earlier, and 2.9.6 and earlier allows local users to read vault secrets. VaultEditor._edit_file_helper closes the descriptor returned by mkstemp, then write_data deletes and recreates the plaintext temporary file by pathname, permitting a race to substitute a file with attacker-readable permissions. Exploitation requires another local account to win the race while ansible-vault edit handles a decrypted vault, exposing the old and newly edited secret without altering it.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-1740
Published
Mar 16, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Ansible
Classifications
CWE-377, CWE-200, T1005
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 16, 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

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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=2.7.x, 2.8.x, 2.9.x

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Ansibleversion=2.7.x, 2.8.x, 2.9.x

Published CVSS scores

1.9NISTAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
3.9Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
5.7GitHubCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
4.7NISTCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 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-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
T1005Data from Local System

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

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Your stack

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