CVE-2015-1839: Salt SaltStack Has Insecure /tmp File Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-6grp-75pq-c8cj
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CVSS 5.3
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-1839 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) saltstack has insecure /tmp file vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves saltstack has insecure /tmp file handling in salt/modules/chef.py. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2014.7.4.

CVE-2015-1839 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-1839
GHSA Identifier GHSA-6grp-75pq-c8cj
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.3
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

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

How to Fix CVE-2015-1839

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: 2014.7.4 
pip install salt>=2014.7.4
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-2015-1839, 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 2014.7.4), 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 General Security Weakness. 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

`modules/chef.py` in SaltStack before 2014.7.4 does not properly handle files in `/tmp`.

CVE-2015-1839 Affected Salt Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2014.7.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 2014.7.4
2014.7.4

References

NVD — CVE-2015-1839 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1839
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/22d2f7a1ec93300c34e8c42d14ec39d51e610b5c
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/b49d0d4b5ca5c6f31f03e2caf97cef1088eeed81
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1212788
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2014.7.4.html
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-30.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-January/175568.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-1839?
CVE-2015-1839 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving SaltStack has insecure /tmp file handling in salt/modules/chef.py under General Security Weakness.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2014.7.4 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2015-1839?
Upgrading to 2014.7.4 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 2014.7.4. Upgrade your dependency to 2014.7.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2015-1839?
CVE-2015-1839 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-1839?
CVE-2015-1839 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2015-1839?
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 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-6grp-75pq-c8cj",
  "modified" : "2024-10-21T21:32:31Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T02:49:26Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-1839" ],
  "summary" : "SaltStack has insecure /tmp file handling in salt/modules/chef.py",
  "details" : "`modules/chef.py` in SaltStack before 2014.7.4 does not properly handle files in `/tmp`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2014.7.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1839"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/22d2f7a1ec93300c34e8c42d14ec39d51e610b5c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/b49d0d4b5ca5c6f31f03e2caf97cef1088eeed81"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1212788"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2014.7.4.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-30.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2016-January/175568.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-04-30T08:35:10Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-04-13T14:59:00Z"
  }
}