CVE-2026-123037
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Symlink Attack in Ansible-Core User Module
Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-123037, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.
Publication date: 2026-11-06
Last updated on: 2026-11-06
Assigner: redhat-SADP
Description
Description
A flaw was found in the ansible-core user module. When generate_ssh_key is enabled, User.ssh_key_gen() guards the key files against symlinks but checks the ~/.ssh directory only with os.path.exists(). An unprivileged user on a managed node who replaces their ~/.ssh with a symlink to an existing root-writable directory causes the privileged module to write the generated key pair through the symlink and then chown both files to that user. Because such files can be dropped into directories processed by schedulers (e.g. /etc/cron.daily) or dynamic MOTD (/etc/update-motd.d), the user can escalate to root on the managed node. This is an incomplete fix of CVE-2024-9902.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | * |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Ansible Core 2 | * |
| Red Hat | Self-service automation portal 2 | * |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
KEV
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-59 | The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource. |
