Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-5115

Path Traversal in Redhat Ansible Automation Platform 1.2 … 2.4

Published
18 December 2023
Modified
06 December 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0086 55th percentile
Risk Priority 50 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-5115 is a medium-severity Absolute Path Traversal (CWE-36) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 6.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 45% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An absolute path traversal attack exists in the Ansible automation platform. This flaw allows an attacker to craft a malicious Ansible role and make the victim execute the role. A symlink can be used to overwrite a file outside of…

more

the extraction path.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-41082Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-9676Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2024-12425Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-52623Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2018-12895Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-47273Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-53566Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-47742Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2019-5418Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2016-0752Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

redhat
ansible automation platform
1.2, 2.3, 2.4
redhat
ansible inside
1.1, 1.2
redhat
ansible developer
1.0, 1.1
debian
debian linux
10.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent absolute path traversal.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect absolute path traversal via static analysis and fuzzing.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes input validation and path-handling requirements that reduce absolute path traversal risk.

prevents

Application security requirements typically mandate controls against path traversal in file-access functions.

prevents

Secure architecture principles call for canonicalization and sandboxing that limit absolute path traversal.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly require neutralization of absolute path sequences in pathname construction.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files can be reached but does not address the path-construction flaw itself.

References