Critical severity · published Feb 20, 2020
CVE-2014-4678
The safe_eval function in Ansible before 1.6.4 does not properly restrict the code subset, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted instructions
9.8
CVSS
5.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The safe_eval function in Ansible before 1.6.4 does not properly restrict the code subset, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted instructions. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2014-4657.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)5.2% · higher than 92% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AN
Ansible · Redhat
before 1.6.4 · source: NVD
DL
Debian Linux · Debian
8.0; 9.0; 10.0 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-4678
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-4678
Patch
https://github.com/ansible/ansible/commit/5429b85b9f6c2e640074176f36ff05fd5e4d1916
Third Party Advisory
https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=ansible-announce/ieV1vZvcTXU/5Q93ThkY9rIJ
Third Party Advisory
https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2014-4678
Mailing List
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/06/26/30
Mailing List
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/07/02/2
Third Party Advisory
https://www.rapid7.com/db/vulnerabilities/freebsd-vid-2c493ac8-205e-11e5-a4a5-002590263bf5
More from Debian Linux
10.0
CVE-2025-32433
Erlang/OTP SSH Vulnerable to Pre-Authentication RCE
10.0
CVE-2025-24201
Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability
10.0
CVE-2021-44228
Apache Log4j2 JNDI features do not protect against attacker controlled LDAP and other JNDI related endpoints
10.0
CVE-2015-3306
ProFTPD Improper Access Control Vulnerability
9.8
CVE-2026-24061
GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Vulnerability