CVE-2020-10697: A flaw was found in Ansible Tower when running Openshift. Tower runs a memcached, which is accessed via TCP. An attacker can take advantage of writing...

Description

A flaw was found in Ansible Tower when running Openshift. Tower runs a memcached, which is accessed via TCP. An attacker can take advantage of writing a playbook polluting this cache, causing a denial of service attack. This attack would not completely stop the service, but in the worst-case scenario, it can reduce the Tower performance, for which memcached is designed. Theoretically, more sophisticated attacks can be performed by manipulating and crafting the cache, as Tower relies on memcached as a place to pull out setting values. Confidential and sensitive data stored in memcached should not be pulled, as this information is encrypted. This flaw affects Ansible Tower versions before 3.6.4, Ansible Tower versions before 3.5.6 and Ansible Tower versions before 3.4.6.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

4.4/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:L

EPSS Probability

0.24%

14.8th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-862

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Redhat	Ansible Tower	< 3.4.6
Redhat	Ansible Tower	>= 3.5.0, < 3.5.6
Redhat	Ansible Tower	>= 3.6.0, < 3.6.4

References

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1818445Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1818445Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory

Timeline

Published: May 27, 2021
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-10697?

A flaw was found in Ansible Tower when running Openshift. Tower runs a memcached, which is accessed via TCP. An attacker can take advantage of writing a playbook polluting this cache, causing a denial of service attack. This attack would not completely stop the service, but in the worst-case scenario, it can reduce the Tower performance, for which memcached is designed. Theoretically, more sophisticated attacks can be performed by manipulating and crafting the cache, as Tower relies on memcached as a place to pull out setting values. Confidential and sensitive data stored in memcached should not be pulled, as this information is encrypted. This flaw affects Ansible Tower versions before 3.6.4, Ansible Tower versions before 3.5.6 and Ansible Tower versions before 3.4.6.

How severe is CVE-2020-10697?

CVE-2020-10697 has a CVSS score of 4.4/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.24% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2020-10697?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.