What happened
A container privilege escalation flaw was found in certain Ansible Automation Platform images. This issue arises from the /etc/passwd file being created with group-writable permissions during the build process. In certain conditions, an attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, can leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This vulnerability allows an attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, gaining full root privileges within the container.
Affected versions
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.16: up to 2.6 Fixed: See vendor advisory.
Why it matters
Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.
Detection & mitigation
- Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
- Review affected product exposure and access logs.
Public PoC references
No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.