CVE-2020-14343

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ModerateModerate ImpactWhat does this mean?
DescriptionStatementMitigationAdditional informationCVSS Score DetailsWeakness (CWE)FAQ

Description

A vulnerability was discovered in the PyYAML library, where it is susceptible to arbitrary code execution when it processes untrusted YAML files through the full_load method or with the FullLoader loader. Applications that use the library to process untrusted input may be vulnerable to this flaw. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system by abusing the python/object/new constructor. This flaw is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2020-1747.

A vulnerability was discovered in the PyYAML library, where it is susceptible to arbitrary code execution when it processes untrusted YAML files through the full_load method or with the FullLoader loader. Applications that use the library to process untrusted input may be vulnerable to this flaw. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the system by abusing the python/object/new constructor. This flaw is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2020-1747.

Statement

This CVE has already been fixed in RHEL-9 with initial release of PyYaml v5.4-1. Ansible Tower 3.7 uses affected version of PyYAML 3.12 from RHEL, but the use of load() is specified with a SafeLoader when it is called. So Ansible Tower and Ansible Engine are not affected. Red Hat Quay, from version 3.4 uses the safe_load function which is not affected by this issue. See [1]. Even though the CVSSv3 for this flaw is 9.8, the Impact has been set to Moderate because PyYAML provides a specific method to deal with untrusted input, which is `yaml.safe_load`. `yaml.safe_load` or the SafeLoader loader should be used whenever the input YAML can be modified by a malicious user. [1] https://github.com/quay/quay/pull/603

This CVE has already been fixed in RHEL-9 with initial release of PyYaml v5.4-1.

Ansible Tower 3.7 uses affected version of PyYAML 3.12 from RHEL, but the use of load() is specified with a SafeLoader when it is called. So Ansible Tower and Ansible Engine are not affected.

Red Hat Quay, from version 3.4 uses the safe_load function which is not affected by this issue. See [1].

Even though the CVSSv3 for this flaw is 9.8, the Impact has been set to Moderate because PyYAML provides a specific method to deal with untrusted input, which is yaml.safe_load. yaml.safe_load or the SafeLoader loader should be used whenever the input YAML can be modified by a malicious user.

[1] https://github.com/quay/quay/pull/603

Mitigation

Use `yaml.safe_load` or the SafeLoader loader when you parse untrusted input.

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 1860466: PyYAML: incomplete fix for CVE-2020-1747
  • CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2020-14343

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
Red HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

9.8

9.8

Attack Vector

Network

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

None

None

User Interaction

None

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

High

High

Integrity Impact

High

High

Availability Impact

High

High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

For open source software shipped by multiple vendors, the CVSS base scores may vary for each vendor's version depending on the version they ship, how they ship it, the platform, and even how the software is compiled. This makes scoring of vulnerabilities difficult for third-party vulnerability databases such as NVD that only provide a single CVSS base score for each vulnerability. Red Hat scores reflect how a vulnerability affects our products specifically.

For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/762393.

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

  • "Under investigation" doesn't necessarily mean that the product is affected by this vulnerability. It only means that our Analysis Team is still working on determining whether the product is affected and how it is affected.
  • The term "Affected" means that our Analysis team has determined that this product, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 or OpenShift Container Platform 4, is affected by this vulnerability and a fix may be released to address this issue in the near future. This includes all minor releases of this product unless noted otherwise in the Statement text.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

A "will not fix" status means that a fix for an affected product version is not planned or not possible due to complexity, which may create additional risk.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Upgrade to a supported product version that includes a fix for this vulnerability (recommended).
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

What is a mitigation?

A mitigation is an action that can be taken to reduce the impact of a security vulnerability, without deploying any fixes.

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

In order to maintain code stability and compatibility, Red Hat usually does not rebase packages to entirely new versions. Instead, we backport fixes and new features to an older version of the package we distribute. This can result in some security scanners that only consider the package version to report the package as vulnerable. To avoid this, we suggest that you use an approved vulnerability scanner from our Red Hat Vulnerability Scanner Certification program.

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