Ubuntu 18.04 — ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide

📖 ~4 min read  •  Source: Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1

Related CVEs: CVE-2015-3908 CVE-2015-6240 CVE-2016-8614 CVE-2019-10206 CVE-2019-14846 CVE-2019-14904 CVE-2020-10729 CVE-2020-1739  +12 more

Upstream summary: It was discovered that Ansible did not properly verify certain fields of
X.509 certificates. An attacker could possibly use this issue to spoof
SSL servers if they were able to intercept network communications. This
issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2015-3908)

Martin Carpenter discovered that certain connection plugins for Ansible
did not properly restrict users. An attacker with local access could
possibly use this issue to escape a restricted environment via symbo

Table of contents

1. Symptom & Impact
2. Environment & Reproduction
3. Root Cause Analysis
4. Quick Triage
5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
6. Solution – Primary Fix
7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
9. Rollback Plan
10. Prevention & Hardening
11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

On Ubuntu 18.04 (bionic) hosts that have ansible installed, administrators report behaviour consistent with Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1: apt reports pending security updates, services backed by ansible fail or restart unexpectedly, AppArmor denials appear in the kernel log, and — for security-rated advisories — the host is exposed to the vulnerability set above. Impact ranges from a single service-restart loop to wider availability incidents whenever ansible sits on the serving path.

Environment & Reproduction

Reproduction targets Ubuntu 18.04 (bionic). Confirm release and installed package:

lsb_release -a
cat /etc/os-release
dpkg -l ansible | tail -2
apt-cache policy ansible
uname -r

Trigger the workflow that exposes ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide while collecting:

sudo journalctl -u ansible -b --no-pager | tail -200
sudo journalctl -xe --no-pager | tail -200
sudo tail -200 /var/log/apt/history.log
sudo tail -200 /var/log/kern.log | grep -i apparmor

Root Cause Analysis

Root cause is documented in Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1. Canonical security maintainers shipped fixes in the corresponding ansible update for Ubuntu 18.04; running an outdated build leaves the host exposed to the failure modes described in the advisory. On this release the fix typically arrives via the Ubuntu Pro ESM (esm-infra / esm-apps) channels rather than the standard archive. Correlate apt history with the journal:

grep -A2 -B2 ansible /var/log/apt/history.log
zgrep -A2 -B2 ansible /var/log/apt/history.log.*.gz 2>/dev/null
cat /proc/sys/kernel/tainted   # non-zero = tainted kernel / out-of-tree modules

Quick Triage

Run these on Ubuntu 18.04 to capture the current state of ansible:

dpkg -l ansible | tail -1                  # installed version
dpkg -V ansible                             # verify shipped files
sudo apt update && apt list --upgradable 2>/dev/null | grep -i security
systemctl is-active ansible
sudo ufw status verbose 2>/dev/null | head -20
sudo aa-status 2>/dev/null | head -20
# If ansible ships a service unit (unit/job name often differs from pkg name, e.g.
# bind9→named, apache2→apache2, postgresql-NN→postgresql@NN-main):
systemctl list-unit-files | grep -i ansible | head

On bionic the standard archive no longer ships security fixes. Verify Ubuntu Pro ESM coverage:

# Ubuntu Pro CLI is the standard tool:
sudo pro status --format=json 2>/dev/null | head
apt-cache policy | grep -i esm

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

1. List failing services.

   systemctl --failed --no-pager

2. Tail the journal / syslog for ansible.

   sudo journalctl -u ansible -f --no-pager
   sudo journalctl -xe -f --no-pager

3. Inspect UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) state.

   sudo ufw status numbered
   sudo ufw show added
   sudo iptables -L -n -v | head -30

4. Surface AppArmor denials and switch the profile to complain mode if needed.

   sudo journalctl -k 2>/dev/null | grep -i 'apparmor="DENIED"' | tail -30
   sudo aa-status
   # /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.ansible or usr.sbin.ansible — inspect first
   sudo aa-complain /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.ansible 2>/dev/null || true

5. Verify ansible integrity and reinstall if anything is altered.

   sudo dpkg -V ansible
   sudo debsums -c ansible 2>/dev/null
   sudo apt install --reinstall -y ansible

6. Correlate findings with /var/log/apt/history.log, /var/log/dpkg.log, and Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1 to pin the change that introduced ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide.

Solution – Primary Fix

Apply the corrective apt transaction referenced by Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1, then reload the affected service:

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install --only-upgrade ansible
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
# Service name may differ from pkg name; check first:
systemctl list-unit-files | grep -i ansible | head
sudo systemctl restart ansible
dpkg -l ansible | tail -1            # confirm new version
systemctl is-active ansible

On bionic the standard archive is past EoL for security; enable Ubuntu Pro ESM to receive the fix:

# Standard pro CLI:
sudo pro attach <token>
sudo pro enable esm-infra
sudo pro enable esm-apps
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install --only-upgrade ansible

For kernel / glibc / systemd / openssl advisories a reboot (or Livepatch) is required:

sudo apt install -y needrestart
sudo needrestart -r l       # list units that need restart
sudo systemctl reboot       # or: sudo shutdown -r now
# Livepatch (Ubuntu Pro) avoids reboot for many kernel CVEs:
sudo canonical-livepatch status
sudo canonical-livepatch refresh

Solution – Alternative Approaches

If the primary upgrade is not viable, pick from these:

• Hold the package so apt cannot upgrade it:

  sudo apt-mark hold ansible
  apt-mark showhold | grep ansible
  # Release the hold later with:
  sudo apt-mark unhold ansible

• Pin a known-good version via apt preferences:

  # /etc/apt/preferences.d/ansible.pref
  Package: ansible
  Pin: version <good-version>
  Pin-Priority: 1001

• Downgrade to an older version if a regression is suspected:

  apt-cache madison ansible
  sudo apt install --allow-downgrades -y ansible=<older-version>

• Investigate AppArmor blocking the new binary; switch to complain briefly, capture denials, then re-enforce:

  sudo aa-complain /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.ansible 2>/dev/null
  # reproduce the failure
  sudo journalctl -k | grep apparmor | tail
  sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.ansible 2>/dev/null

• Apply Canonical Livepatch (Ubuntu Pro) to land kernel fixes without reboot:

  sudo canonical-livepatch status
  sudo canonical-livepatch refresh

• Take only the security pocket update and defer the full point-release upgrade:

  sudo apt -y install --only-upgrade -t bionic-security ansible

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

All of these should pass after the fix is applied:

dpkg -l ansible | tail -1                                  # expected fixed version
apt list --upgradable 2>/dev/null | grep -i security || echo OK
systemctl is-active ansible
sudo journalctl -u ansible --since "5 minutes ago" --no-pager | grep -iE "error|fail" || echo OK
sudo ufw status numbered | head
sudo aa-status 2>/dev/null | head -5

The original reproduction for ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide must not trigger across two consecutive runs.

Rollback Plan

Capture state before any change:

apt list --installed 2>/dev/null > /root/apt-pre.txt
dpkg --get-selections > /root/dpkg-pre.txt
# ZFS-on-root (Ubuntu 20.04+ default installer option):
sudo zfs snapshot rpool/ROOT/ubuntu@pre-ansible
# LVM-on-root:
sudo lvcreate -L 4G -s -n root_pre_patch /dev/<vg>/<root-lv>

To revert:

sudo apt install --allow-downgrades -y ansible=<old-version>
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart ansible
# Kernel rollback: pick the prior kernel from the GRUB menu, then:
sudo systemctl reboot
# ZFS rollback (rolls the whole root dataset):
sudo zfs rollback -r rpool/ROOT/ubuntu@pre-ansible

Prevention & Hardening

Reduce the chance of this recurring on Ubuntu 18.04 (bionic):

• Enable scheduled security updates via unattended-upgrades:

  sudo apt install -y unattended-upgrades update-notifier-common
  sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades
  # /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades:
  Unattended-Upgrade::Allowed-Origins { "${distro_id}:${distro_codename}-security"; };

• Install needrestart so services restart automatically after library upgrades:

  sudo apt install -y needrestart
  # /etc/needrestart/needrestart.conf -> $nrconf{restart} = 'a';

• Attach Ubuntu Pro for ESM (mandatory on this past-EoL release) and Livepatch where supported:

  sudo pro attach <token>
  sudo pro enable esm-infra
  sudo pro enable esm-apps
  sudo pro enable livepatch

• Subscribe to ubuntu-security-announce and watch ubuntu.com/security/cves.

• Monitor file integrity with debsums and AIDE:

  sudo apt install -y debsums aide
  sudo debsums -ca
  sudo aideinit && sudo mv /var/lib/aide/aide.db.new /var/lib/aide/aide.db
  sudo aide --check

• For estate-wide patching, manage with Canonical Landscape:

  sudo apt install -y landscape-client
  sudo landscape-config

• Keep AppArmor profiles in enforce mode and apply CIS Ubuntu Linux Benchmark hardening.

Related Errors & Cross-Refs

Issues that commonly surface alongside ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide: apt lock contention, broken dpkg state, systemd ordering cycles, AppArmor denials, and UFW rule drift. Useful triage:

sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt --fix-broken install
systemd-analyze critical-chain
sudo journalctl -k 2>/dev/null | grep -i apparmor | tail
cat /proc/sys/kernel/tainted

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References & Further Reading

Primary reference: Ubuntu Security Notice USN-7330-1. Manual pages useful on Ubuntu 18.04:

man apt
man apt-get
man apt-mark
man dpkg
man systemctl
man journalctl
man ufw
man apparmor
man aa-status
man unattended-upgrades
man canonical-livepatch
man pro

Other resources: Ubuntu Security Notices, Ubuntu CVE Tracker, Ubuntu upgrade notes, and per-package notes in /usr/share/doc/ansible/ for components implicated in ansible — multiple vulnerabilities (20 CVEs) — patch and remediation guide.