CVE-2020-1753

Credential disclosure via exposed kubectl arguments

Published Mar 16, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Information disclosure in Red Hat Ansible before 2.7.17, 2.8.11, or 2.9.7 allows local users to read Kubernetes credentials. The k8s module's kubectl connection plugin appends token and password options to the process command line and sends the uncensored command to console and log output despite no_log. The issue is reachable only when Kubernetes management uses inline kubectl credentials; users able to inspect the control node's processes or output can recover those secrets.

CVSS severity5.0
Medium
EPSS probability0.51%
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 before 2.7.17, 2.8.11, or 2.9.7 allows local users to read Kubernetes credentials. The k8s module's kubectl connection plugin appends token and password options to the process command line and sends the uncensored command to console and log output despite no_log. The issue is reachable only when Kubernetes management uses inline kubectl credentials; users able to inspect the control node's processes or output can recover those secrets.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-1753
Published
Mar 16, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Ansible
Classifications
CWE-214, CWE-200, CWE-532, T1552.001
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

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=all Ansible 2.7.x versions prior to 2.7.17
  2. Affected versionversion=all Ansible 2.8.x versions prior to 2.8.11
  3. Affected versionversion=all Ansible 2.9.x versions prior to 2.9.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Ansibleversion=all Ansible 2.7.x versions prior to 2.7.17; version=all Ansible 2.8.x versions prior to 2.8.11; version=all Ansible 2.9.x versions prior to 2.9.7

Published CVSS scores

5.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
2.1NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
5.0Red Hat, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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 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-214Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information
CWE-200Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
CWE-532Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File
T1552.001Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files

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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