CVE-2020-11651
CriticalExploitedPublic exploitSaltStack Salt Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
Published May 24, 2022 · Updated Jul 8, 2026 · Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2020-11651, DEBIAN-CVE-2020-11652, DLA-2223-1, DSA-4676-2, GHSA-pjhf-vpx3-33r3, PYSEC-2020-102, SUSE-SU-2020:1147-1, SUSE-SU-2020:1150-1, SUSE-SU-2020:1151-1, SUSE-SU-2020:1392-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-11651, USN-6849-1
Key Facts
Patch immediately- CVE-2020-11651 is a critical-severity vulnerability (CVSS 9.3 v4) affecting Salt (Saltstack), Application Remote Collector (Vmware), Ubuntu Linux (Canonical) and 22 more products.
- It is exploited in the wild, listed in CISA KEV, Industry KEV feed, CIRCL KEV, ENISA EUVD since Jul 22, 2020. Public exploit code is available.
- EPSS estimates a 97% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- Fixed versions are available, including python-distro 1.5.0-3.5.1, python-singledispatch 3.4.0.3-1.5.1, python2-distro 1.5.0-3.5.1.
- Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is listed as exploited in the wild.
CVSS v4
9.3
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
EPSS (30-day exploit likelihood)
97%
Higher than 99.8% of all scored CVEs
Exploited in the wild
Yes
4 catalog listings
Public exploit code
Available
Proof-of-concept or weaponized module
Get the full CVE-2020-11651 brief as a PDF
Every affected product and fixed release, exploitation status and a first 24 hours response checklist, emailed within minutes.
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.
Known-Exploited Catalog Listings
| Catalog | Added | Remediation due | Ransomware use |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA KEV | Nov 3, 2021 | May 3, 2022 | Not reported |
| Industry KEV feed | Jul 22, 2020 | May 3, 2022 | Not reported |
| CIRCL KEV | Nov 3, 2021 | May 3, 2022 | Not reported |
| ENISA EUVD | Nov 3, 2021 | n/a | Not reported |
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Affected Products
400 affected entries in total| Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| SaltSaltstack | See advisory | 2019.2.4 |
| Application Remote CollectorVmware | 7.5.0, 8.0.0 | n/a |
| Ubuntu LinuxCanonical | 16.04, 18.04 | n/a |
| Debian LinuxDebian | 10.0, 8.0, 9.0 | n/a |
| LeapOpensuse | 15.1 | n/a |
Patched Releases
python-distro
1.5.0-3.5.1
python-singledispatch
3.4.0.3-1.5.1
python2-distro
1.5.0-3.5.1
python2-salt
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1
python3-distro
1.5.0-3.5.1
python3-salt
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
Salt
0.17.5+ds-1ubuntu0.1~esm2, 2014.1.13+ds-3+deb8u1, 2015.8.8+ds-1ubuntu0.1, 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u3, 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u4, 2016.11.4-48.10.1, 2017.7.4+dfsg1-1ubuntu18.04.2, 2018.3.4+dfsg1-6+deb10u1, 2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 2019.2.4, 2019.2.4-1, 2019.2.4-1.ph1, 2019.2.4-r0, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3000.2, 3000.2-r0, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-api
2016.11.4-48.10.1, 2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-bash-completion
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-cloud
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-doc
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-fish-completion
2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-master
2016.11.4-48.10.1, 2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-minion
2016.11.4-48.10.1, 2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-proxy
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-ssh
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-standalone-formulas-configuration
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-syndic
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-transactional-update
3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt-zsh-completion
2019.2.0-46.91.1, 2019.2.0-5.67.1, 2019.2.0-6.27.1, 2019.2.0-lp151.5.15.1, 3000-46.101.1, 3000-5.78.1, 3000-6.37.1, 3000-lp151.5.21.1, 3002.2-37.1, 3002.2-6.1, 3002.2-lp152.3.36.1
salt3
2019.2.4-1.ph1, 2019.2.4-1.ph3
Timeline
Added to Industry KEV feed
Jul 22, 2020
Added to CISA KEV
Nov 3, 2021
Added to CIRCL KEV
Nov 3, 2021
Added to ENISA EUVD
Nov 3, 2021
Publicly disclosed
May 24, 2022
Last updated
Jul 8, 2026
Weakness Type
- CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
- CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function
References
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1157465
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1159284
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1162327
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1165572
- advisoryhttps://bugzilla.suse.com/1167437
FAQ
Common Questions.
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2.
Affected: Salt (Saltstack); Application Remote Collector (Vmware) versions 7.5.0, 8.0.0; Ubuntu Linux (Canonical) versions 16.04, 18.04, among others. The full list is in the CVE brief.
It is exploited in the wild, listed in CISA KEV, Industry KEV feed, CIRCL KEV, ENISA EUVD since Jul 22, 2020.
Yes. It was added on Nov 3, 2021 with a federal remediation due date of May 3, 2022.
Public exploit code is available.
Fixed versions are available, including python-distro 1.5.0-3.5.1, python-singledispatch 3.4.0.3-1.5.1, python2-distro 1.5.0-3.5.1.
Brandefense priority: patch immediately, because it is listed as exploited in the wild.
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