GHSA-4cvm-5776-jx9f is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in ansible. A fix is available for ansible — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Ansible Arbitrary Code Execution
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-4cvm-5776-jx9f 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
ansibleReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
User module in ansible before 1.6.6 is vulnerable to command execution. Ansible can get the result of remote command in variable, which may come from untrusted source of input. If the content of variable isn't properly filtered and when attempting to use the variable, it will trigger a function that passes it through jinja 2 template engine that can result into arbitrary command execution. Under certain circumstances, unprivileged user on system that is being managed via ansible can execute code on the managing host under UID of running ansible process.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | ansible | all versions | 1.6.6pip install --upgrade 'ansible==1.6.6' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ansible, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ansible to 1.6.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-4cvm-5776-jx9f 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-4cvm-5776-jx9f can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-4cvm-5776-jx9f. 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-4cvm-5776-jx9f in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-4cvm-5776-jx9f across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.