CVE-2023-5115 identifies an absolute path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform version 2.3 running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8. The vulnerability arises from insufficient validation of file paths when Ansible roles are extracted and executed. An attacker capable of crafting a malicious Ansible role can exploit this flaw by embedding symbolic links within the role's archive. When the victim executes this role, the symbolic links can cause files outside the intended extraction directory to be overwritten, potentially modifying critical system files or configuration data. This attack vector requires the attacker to have some level of privileges (PR:L) and user interaction (UI:R), such as convincing a user or automated process to run the malicious role. The vulnerability does not directly impact confidentiality or availability but has a high impact on integrity, as it allows unauthorized modification of files. The CVSS vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N) indicates that the attack can be performed remotely over the network with low complexity, but requires privileges and user interaction. No known exploits have been reported in the wild yet, but the risk remains significant due to the widespread use of Ansible Automation Platform in enterprise environments for configuration management and orchestration. The lack of available patches at the time of publication necessitates immediate mitigation through operational controls.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity of systems managed via Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.3 on RHEL 8. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to overwrite critical system or application files, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution, configuration corruption, or disruption of automated workflows. This can undermine trust in automation processes, cause downtime, or facilitate further lateral movement within networks. Given the reliance on Ansible for managing infrastructure as code, the impact could cascade across multiple systems, amplifying operational risk. Confidentiality and availability impacts are limited, but the integrity compromise can have severe consequences for compliance, especially in regulated sectors such as finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure prevalent in Europe. Organizations using automated deployment pipelines or third-party roles without strict validation are at increased risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the potential for targeted attacks.

1. Apply official patches from Red Hat as soon as they become available to address CVE-2023-5115. 2. Until patches are released, restrict the execution of Ansible roles to trusted sources only and avoid running roles from unverified or external repositories. 3. Implement strict validation and scanning of Ansible roles for malicious content, including detection of symbolic links that could lead to path traversal. 4. Use containerization or sandboxing techniques to isolate Ansible execution environments, limiting the scope of file system access. 5. Monitor file system changes on hosts managed by Ansible for unexpected modifications, especially outside designated directories. 6. Enforce the principle of least privilege for users and automation accounts executing Ansible roles to reduce the risk of privilege escalation. 7. Educate administrators and DevOps teams about the risks of executing untrusted automation content and encourage secure role development practices. 8. Review and harden Ansible configuration settings to limit role execution paths and disable unnecessary features that could be exploited.