CVE-2025-22241: Salt Salt's File Contents Overwrite The Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7f3f-x5f5-79gw
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CVSS 5.6
CWE-73 CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-22241 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.6) salt's file contents overwrite the vulnerability (CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt's file contents overwrite the virtkey class. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3007.4, 3006.12.

CVE-2025-22241 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-22241
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7f3f-x5f5-79gw
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.6
CWE Classification CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.6

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2025-22241

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: 3007.4 
pip install salt>=3007.4
salt fixed: 3006.12 
pip install salt>=3006.12
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-2025-22241, 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 3007.4), 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 CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path, where the product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations. 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

File contents overwrite the VirtKey class is called when “on-demand pillar” data is requested and uses un-validated input to create paths to the “pki directory”. The functionality is used to auto-accept Minion authentication keys based on a pre-placed “authorization file” at a specific location and is present in the default configuration.

CVE-2025-22241 Affected Salt Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3007.43006.12
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3007.0rc1
< 3007.4
3007.4
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3006.0rc1
< 3006.12
3006.12

References

NVD — CVE-2025-22241 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22241
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/9445f496fed61b15dc4364818007e5b765b0746f
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltproject.io/en/3006/topics/releases/3006.12.html
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltproject.io/en/3007/topics/releases/3007.4.html
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-22241?
CVE-2025-22241 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt's file contents overwrite the VirtKey class under CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3007.4, 3006.12 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2025-22241?
Upgrading to 3007.4, 3006.12 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 3007.4, 3006.12. Upgrade your dependency to 3007.4, 3006.12 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-22241?
CVE-2025-22241 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.6 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-22241?
CVE-2025-22241 is classified under CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path (The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2025-22241?
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-7f3f-x5f5-79gw",
  "modified" : "2025-06-17T20:00:42Z",
  "published" : "2025-06-13T09:30:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-22241" ],
  "summary" : "Salt's file contents overwrite the VirtKey class",
  "details" : "File contents overwrite the VirtKey class is called when “on-demand pillar” data is requested and uses un-validated input to create paths to the “pki directory”. The functionality is used to auto-accept Minion authentication keys based on a pre-placed “authorization file” at a specific location and is present in the default configuration.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3007.0rc1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3007.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3006.0rc1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3006.12"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22241"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/9445f496fed61b15dc4364818007e5b765b0746f"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltproject.io/en/3006/topics/releases/3006.12.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltproject.io/en/3007/topics/releases/3007.4.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22", "CWE-73" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-06-13T21:57:13Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-06-13T07:15:21Z"
  }
}