CVE-2020-10697 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

A flaw in Ansible Tower affecting versions before 3.6.4, 3.5.6, and 3.4.6 allows attackers to exploit memcached, potentially leading to a denial of service attack.

Understanding CVE-2020-10697

What is CVE-2020-10697?

This CVE describes a vulnerability in Ansible Tower that can be exploited by attackers to degrade the performance of the service by manipulating the memcached cache.

The Impact of CVE-2020-10697

The vulnerability can lead to a denial of service attack on Ansible Tower running Openshift.
While the service may not completely stop, it can significantly reduce performance.
Attackers could potentially manipulate the cache to perform more sophisticated attacks.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-10697

Vulnerability Description

Ansible Tower, when running Openshift, utilizes memcached accessed via TCP.
Attackers can exploit this by writing a playbook to pollute the cache, causing a denial of service.

Affected Systems and Versions

Ansible Tower versions before 3.6.4, 3.5.6, and 3.4.6 are vulnerable to this flaw.

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers can manipulate the memcached cache to impact Tower performance.

Mitigation and Prevention

Immediate Steps to Take

Update Ansible Tower to version 3.6.4 or newer to mitigate the vulnerability.
Monitor and restrict access to memcached to prevent unauthorized manipulation.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly review and update security configurations for Ansible Tower and associated services.
Implement network segmentation to limit the impact of potential attacks.

Patching and Updates

Apply security patches and updates provided by Ansible Tower to address known vulnerabilities.