Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Ansible vault files could be created or modified with permissions that were too open because the vault subsystem did not set a safe umask. On systems using Ansible before 1.5.5, a local user could read sensitive key information. This mainly matters on shared hosts, build servers, and multi-user admin workstations.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted cleanup item for legacy automation environments, especially shared administration systems. It is not sourced as remotely exploitable or actively exploited, but exposed secrets can create broader compromise risk.
Technical view
CVE-2014-4658 is a local information disclosure issue in Ansible before 1.5.5. The vault subsystem failed to set the process umask before vault file creation or modification, potentially leaving sensitive vault-related data readable by other local users. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, or detailed patch notes.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to systems running Ansible before 1.5.5 where vault files were created or changed on hosts accessible by multiple local users.
Exploitation context
The cited CVE description supports local-user access to sensitive key information. There is no KEV listing and no provided source evidence of active exploitation or remote exploitation.
Researcher notes
The record is sparse: no CVSS, CWE, or detailed exploitability data is supplied. Analysis should stay bounded to local information disclosure in Ansible vault handling before 1.5.5 and avoid assuming other Ansible components are affected.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Ansible to 1.5.5 or later where feasible.
- Review vendor changelog and current Ansible guidance for supported upgrade paths.
- Restrict local user access on hosts storing or editing vault files.
- Rotate secrets if vault files may have been readable by untrusted local users.
Validation and detection
- Identify hosts with Ansible versions earlier than 1.5.5.
- Locate vault files created or modified by affected versions.
- Review file permissions and ownership for vault-related files.
- Check whether untrusted local users had access to those hosts.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2014-4658 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/ansible/ansible/blob/release1.5.5/CHANGELOG.mdCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- 68233CVE reference · vdb-entry, x_refsource_BID
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.