GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-311 vulnerability in org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible. A fix is available for org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Jenkins Ansible Plugin stores and displays secrets in plain text
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansibleReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Jenkins Ansible Plugin allows the specification of extra variables that can be passed to Ansible. These extra variables are commonly used to pass secrets.
Ansible Plugin 204.v8191fd551eb_f and earlier stores these extra variables unencrypted in job config.xml files on the Jenkins controller as part of its configuration.
These extra variables can be viewed by users with Item/Extended Read permission or access to the Jenkins controller file system.
Additionally, the job configuration form does not mask these extra variables, increasing the potential for attackers to observe and capture them.
Ansible Plugin 205.v4cb_c48657c21 masks extra variables displayed on the configuration form, and stores them encrypted once job configurations are saved again.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible | all versions | 205.v4cborg.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible:205.v4cb |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jenkins-ci.plugins:ansible to 205.v4cb or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-38hw-368m-7jmg across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.