CVE-2020-25592: Salt SaltStack Salt Improper Validation Of Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-29j3-2446-5j4w
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-25592 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) saltstack salt improper validation of vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves saltstack salt improper validation of eauth credentials and tokens in salt-netapi. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.7, 3000.5, 3001.3, 3002.1.

CVE-2020-25592 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-25592
GHSA Identifier GHSA-29j3-2446-5j4w
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2020-25592

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Salt dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

salt fixed: 2015.8.13 
pip install salt>=2015.8.13
salt fixed: 2016.3.8 
pip install salt>=2016.3.8
salt fixed: 2016.11.10 
pip install salt>=2016.11.10
salt fixed: 2017.7.8 
pip install salt>=2017.7.8
salt fixed: 2018.3.5 
pip install salt>=2018.3.5
salt fixed: 2019.2.7 
pip install salt>=2019.2.7
salt fixed: 3000.5 
pip install salt>=3000.5
salt fixed: 3001.3 
pip install salt>=3001.3
salt fixed: 3002.1 
pip install salt>=3002.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show salt

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-25592, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show salt

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Salt in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2015.8.13), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show salt command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Salt, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In SaltStack the salt-netapi improperly validates eauth credentials and tokens. A user can bypass authentication and invoke Salt SSH.

CVE-2020-25592 Affected Salt Versions

9 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2015.8.132016.3.82016.11.102017.7.82018.3.52019.2.73000.53001.33002.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 2015.8.13
2015.8.13
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2016.3.0
< 2016.3.8
2016.3.8
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2016.11.0
< 2016.11.10
2016.11.10
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2017.5.0
< 2017.7.8
2017.7.8
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2018.2.0
< 2018.3.5
2018.3.5
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2019.2.0
< 2019.2.7
2019.2.7
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3000.0
< 3000.5
3000.5
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3001.0
< 3001.3
3001.3
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3002.0
< 3002.1
3002.1

References

NVD — CVE-2020-25592 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-25592
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/index.html
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2020-106.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/2019.2.7.rst#L12
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3000.5.rst#L12
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3001.3.rst#L12
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3002.1.rst#L14
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00007.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TPOGB2F6XUAIGFDTOCQDNB2VIXFXHWMA
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-13
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4837
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://www.saltstack.com/blog/on-november-3-2020-saltstack-publicly-disclosed-three-new-cves
Salt Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00029.html
Salt Security Information SECURITY
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160039/SaltStack-Salt-REST-API-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-25592?
CVE-2020-25592 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving SaltStack Salt Improper Validation of eauth credentials and tokens in salt-netapi under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.7, 3000.5, 3001.3, 3002.1 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2020-25592?
Upgrading to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.7, 3000.5, 3001.3, 3002.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.7, 3000.5, 3001.3, 3002.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.7, 3000.5, 3001.3, 3002.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-25592?
CVE-2020-25592 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-25592?
CVE-2020-25592 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-25592?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show salt'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
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  "id" : "GHSA-29j3-2446-5j4w",
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  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:33:18Z",
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}