CVE-2021-3681

Credential disclosure via unfiltered collection archives

Published Apr 18, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Credential exposure in Red Hat Ansible Galaxy's Ansible 3.3.0 allows remote attackers to read secrets from published collection archives. The collection build step includes repository files in the tar archive unless galaxy.yml build_ignore patterns explicitly exclude them. Exposure requires a maintainer to build and publish an archive containing credentials or unredacted verbose output; any downloader can then read those secrets.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.25%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Credential exposure in Red Hat Ansible Galaxy's Ansible 3.3.0 allows remote attackers to read secrets from published collection archives. The collection build step includes repository files in the tar archive unless galaxy.yml build_ignore patterns explicitly exclude them. Exposure requires a maintainer to build and publish an archive containing credentials or unredacted verbose output; any downloader can then read those secrets.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-3681
Published
Apr 18, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Ansible Galaxy
Classifications
CWE-522, T1552.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 2022CVE 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 3.3.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Ansible Galaxyversion=ansible 3.3.0

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

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 exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-522Insufficiently Protected Credentials
T1552.001Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files

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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