CVE-2020-10744

Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere and Insecure Temporary File in Ansible

An incomplete fix was found for the fix of the flaw CVE-2020-1733 ansible insecure temporary directory when running become_user from become directive. The provided fix is insufficient to prevent the race condition on systems using ACLs and FUSE filesystems. Ansible Engine 2.7.18, 2.8.12, and 2.9.9 as well as previous versions are affected and Ansible Tower 3.4.5, 3.5.6 and 3.6.4 as well as previous versions are affected.

Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing. Typical impact: TOCTOU exploits, data corruption, or privilege escalation.

CVE-2020-10744 has a CVSS score of 5.0 (Low). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.10.0rc1, 2.9.12); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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1. What is CVE-2020-10744? CVE-2020-10744 is a low-severity race condition vulnerability in ansible (pip), affecting versions >= 2.10.0a1, < 2.10.0rc1. It is fixed in 2.10.0rc1, 2.9.12. Multiple concurrent operations access a shared resource without proper synchronization, producing unpredictable results depending on timing.
2. How severe is CVE-2020-10744? CVE-2020-10744 has a CVSS score of 5.0 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of ansible are affected by CVE-2020-10744? ansible (pip) versions >= 2.10.0a1, < 2.10.0rc1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2020-10744? Yes. CVE-2020-10744 is fixed in 2.10.0rc1, 2.9.12. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2020-10744 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-10744 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2020-10744 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2020-10744?
   • Upgrade ansible to 2.10.0rc1 or later
   • Upgrade ansible to 2.9.12 or later

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