CVE-2023-4237: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 · Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere
Affects Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Oct 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
AI-suggested
Immediate mitigation should include restricting access to log files where Ansible output is stored, ensuring only trusted administrators can view logs containing sensitive information. Organizations should audit existing logs for exposed private keys and rotate any compromised AWS keypairs promptly. Until a patch is released, avoid using the ec2_key module for keypair creation or implement custom scripts that do not output private keys to standard output. Monitor Red Hat security advisories and apply updates as soon as patches become available. Additionally, implement strict role-based access controls (RBAC) on Ansible automation environments and AWS accounts to limit the blast radius of any key compromise. Employ logging and monitoring solutions to detect unusual access patterns to logs or AWS resources. Finally, consider using AWS IAM roles and temporary credentials to reduce reliance on long-lived keypairs.
Description
A flaw was found in the Ansible Automation Platform. When creating a new keypair, the ec2_key module prints out the private key directly to the standard output. This flaw allows an attacker to fetch those keys from the log files, compromising the system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
References
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2023:5653 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2023:5666 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4237 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2229979 (opens in a new tab)
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20241025-0002/ (opens in a new tab)