---
id: CVE-2023-5115
aliases:
  - GHSA-jpvw-p8pr-9g2x
  - PYSEC-2026-1120
title: Ansible symlink attack vulnerability
summary: Ansible symlink attack vulnerability
severity: medium
cvss: 6.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N'
vendor: ansible
product: ansible
ecosystem: pip
affected:
  - ansible < 8.5.0
patched:
  - ansible 8.5.0
published: '2023-12-28'
updated: '2026-07-07'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-jpvw-p8pr-9g2x'
references:
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-5115'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/1e930684bc0a76ec3d094cd326738ad26416541c
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:5701'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2023:5758'
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-5115'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2233810'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/ansible-community/ansible-build-data/blob/16d36538b96c65d9e0e28d89781361b69857ac0e/8/CHANGELOG-v8.rst#L221
  - url: 'https://github.com/ansible/ansible'
  - url: 'https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00018.html'
tags:
  - osv
  - pip
epss: 0.01013
epssPercentile: 0.61772
ingestedAt: '2026-07-08T18:25:50.846Z'
---

## Overview

An absolute path traversal attack exists in the Ansible automation platform. This flaw allows an attacker to craft a malicious Ansible role and make the victim execute the role. A symlink can be used to overwrite a file outside of the extraction path.

## Affected packages

- `ansible < 8.5.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `ansible 8.5.0`