# CVE-2020-10685: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere and Insecure Temporary File in Ansible

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2020-10685-exposure-of-resource-to-wrong-sphere-and-insecure-temporary-file  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2020-05-11  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2020-10685 · Severity: low · CVSS 3.1 · Published 2020-05-11

A flaw was found in Ansible Engine affecting Ansible Engine versions 2.7.x before 2.7.17 and 2.8.x before 2.8.11 and 2.9.x before 2.9.7 as well as Ansible Tower before and including versions 3.4.5 and 3.5.5 and 3.6.3 when using modules which decrypts vault files such as assemble, script, unarchive, win_copy, aws_s3 or copy modules. The temporary directory is created in /tmp leaves the s ts unencrypted. On Operating Systems which /tmp is not a tmpfs but part of the root partition, the directory is only cleared on boot and the decryp emains when the host is switched off. The system will be vulnerable when the system is not running. So decrypted data must be cleared as soon as possible and the data which normally is encrypted ble.

Technologies: [ansible (PyPI)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/ansible). Vendors: [PyPI](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/pypi).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2020-10685 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2020-10685 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2020-10685?** Low severity, with a CVSS score of 3.1, published 11 May 2020.

**Which products and versions are affected?** ansible (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=2.7.0,fixed=2.7.17,introduced=2.8.0,fixed=2.8.11,introduced=2.9.0,fixed=2.9.7, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=2.7.0a1,fixed=2.7.17.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2020-10685?** Yes. ansible (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.17, 2.9.7 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**Am I affected by CVE-2020-10685?** Check whether you run ansible (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- ansible (PyPI): upgrade to 2.7.17, 2.9.7 or later

  ```sh
  pip install "ansible>=2.9.7"
  ```


## Affected products

- ansible (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=2.7.0,fixed=2.7.17,introduced=2.8.0,fixed=2.8.11,introduced=2.9.0,fixed=2.9.7, ECOSYSTEM:introduced=2.7.0a1,fixed=2.7.17

## Identifiers

- CVE-2020-10685
- GHSA-77g3-3j5w-64w4
- PYSEC-2020-1

## Related threats

- [PYSEC-2026-1120 - Ansible symlink attack vulnerability](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2023-5115-ansible-symlink-attack-vulnerability)
- [PYSEC-2026-768 - Ansible leaks password to logs](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2022-3697-ansible-leaks-password-to-logs)
- [PYSEC-2026-618 - Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File in ansible](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2021-20180-insertion-of-sensitive-information-into-log-file-in-ansible)
- [Ansible community.general information exposure in Keycloak user module](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-14010-ansible-community-general-information-exposure-in-keycloak-user)
- [Ansible discloses sensitive information in traceback error message](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2021-3620-ansible-discloses-sensitive-information-in-traceback-error-message)