CVE-2021-20253Known exploitationPublic exploit

Privilege escalation via job isolation escape

Published Mar 9, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Improper privilege management in Red Hat Ansible Tower before 3.6.7, 3.7.5, or 3.8.2 allows remote authenticated users to elevate to awx. The job-isolation boundary can be escaped by a malicious playbook author, allowing execution outside the isolated environment with awx privileges. Exploitation requires low-privileged ability to run a playbook; successful elevation exposes Tower-managed data, permits integrity changes, and can interrupt service.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.41%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationReported
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper privilege management in Red Hat Ansible Tower before 3.6.7, 3.7.5, or 3.8.2 allows remote authenticated users to elevate to awx. The job-isolation boundary can be escaped by a malicious playbook author, allowing execution outside the isolated environment with awx privileges. Exploitation requires low-privileged ability to run a playbook; successful elevation exposes Tower-managed data, permits integrity changes, and can interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-20253
Published
Mar 9, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Ansible Tower
Classifications
CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 9, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 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 3.8.2, ansible-tower 3.7.5, ansible-tower 3.6.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Ansible Towerversion=ansible-tower 3.8.2, ansible-tower 3.7.5, ansible-tower 3.6.7

Published CVSS scores

6.7NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.5NVDAV:L/AC:H/Au:S/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.

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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 exploitationReported
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

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

Reported exploitation

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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