# CVE-2020-1733: ansible: A race condition flaw was found in Ansible Engine 2.7.17 and prior, 2.8.9 and prior, 2.9.6 and prior when running a p...

CVE-2020-1733 is fixed in ansible on 1 platform, first by ansible 2.5.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1+esm1, released September 22, 2021. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: Routine.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-1733
- Priority: Routine
- CVSS: n/a (Medium)
- EPSS: 0.0040
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: no
- Published: Mar 11, 2020

## Description

A race condition flaw was found in Ansible Engine 2.7.17 and prior, 2.8.9 and prior, 2.9.6 and prior when running a playbook with an unprivileged become user. When Ansible needs to run a module with become user, the temporary directory is created in /var/tmp. This directory is created with "umask 77 && mkdir -p <dir>"; this operation does not fail if the directory already exists and is owned by another user. An attacker could take advantage to gain control of the become user as the target directory can be retrieved by iterating '/proc/<pid>/cmdline'.

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | ansible Ubuntu 18.04.6 LTS (bionic) | 2.5.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1+esm1 | [ansible 2.5.1+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1+esm1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/ubuntu-bionic-ansible-2.5.1-dfsg-1ubuntu0.1-esm1.md) | Sep 22, 2021 |
| Linux | ansible Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (focal) | 2.9.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 | [ansible 2.9.6+dfsg-1ubuntu0.1~esm1](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/linux/ubuntu-focal-ansible-2.9.6-dfsg-1ubuntu0.1-esm1.md) | Mar 3, 2022 |

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Data as of 2026-11-08T00:53:09Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

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