ansible-core: symlinked ~/.ssh lets an unprivileged user on a managed node escalate to root

Impact

Ansible is how most operators provision and patch GPU nodes, so every node in the fleet is a managed node. When a play runs the user module with generate_ssh_key enabled, User.ssh_key_gen() checks the target ~/.ssh with os.path.exists() only, which follows symlinks. An unprivileged local user on the managed node who replaces their ~/.ssh with a symlink to a root-writable directory gets the privileged module to write the generated key pair through that symlink and then chown both files to them. Dropping an attacker-owned file into a directory a scheduler reads - /etc/cron.daily - or into /etc/update-motd.d yields root on that node. On a multi-tenant GPU host, a tenant with shell on the node can turn the operator's own configuration run into local root. This is an incomplete fix of CVE-2024-9902.

Who can reach it

An unprivileged local user on an Ansible-managed node who can write their own home directory, and who must wait for (or induce) a privileged play that uses the user module with generate_ssh_key. No credentials on the control node are required.

What to do

Apply the ansible-core update from the Red Hat advisory on the control node - ansible-core is the component to patch, not the managed hosts. No node drain or reboot; the fix takes effect on the next play. Until patched, avoid generate_ssh_key in plays that target hosts with untrusted local users, or pre-create and own ~/.ssh for managed accounts. Red Hat lists the CVE against several products that bundle ansible-core (Ansible Automation Platform, ACM, OpenShift Service Mesh, Migration Toolkit); the flaw is in ansible-core itself.

References

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