CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2020-11651Exploited in the wildNVD status: Analyzed

SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2020-11651 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Salt from Saltstack, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 2019.2.4, 3000.2 as the first without the flaw, so updating Salt to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on November 3, 2021, which means attacks have been observed in the wild.

Patch now

Attackers are already exploiting this vulnerability, according to CISA.

What to do

  1. Update Salt to 2019.2.4 or 3000.2, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. CISA's required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
  3. Read the advisory on vmware.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  4. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
SaltstackSaltbefore 2019.2.4; 3000 up to, but not including, 3000.22019.2.4, 3000.2
openSUSELeap15.1Not stated
DebianDebian Linux8.0; 9.0; 10.0Not stated
CanonicalUbuntu Linux16.04; 18.04Not stated
VMwareApplication Remote Collector7.5.0; 8.0.0Not stated

Version data comes from NVD's product matching. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

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

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalNVD
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalCISA (ADP)
CVSS 2.07.5HighNVD

Official description

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2. The salt-master process ClearFuncs class does not properly validate method calls. This allows a remote user to access some methods without authentication. These methods can be used to retrieve user tokens from the salt master and/or run arbitrary commands on salt minions.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. Added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue.
  3. Deadline for US federal agencies to remediate, set by CISA.
  4. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: active, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
  5. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Technical write-ups (may include proof of concept)

Other vulnerabilities in Salt

All Salt vulnerabilities

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