CVE-2023-20897: Salt Denial of Service Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vpjg-wmf8-29h9
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CVSS 5.3
CWE-404
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-20897 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-404: Improper Resource Shutdown or Release) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt vulnerable to denial of service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3005.2, 3006.2.

CVE-2023-20897 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-20897
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vpjg-wmf8-29h9
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.3
CWE Classification CWE-404: Improper Resource Shutdown or Release
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:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).

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 None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2023-20897

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: 3005.2 
pip install salt>=3005.2
salt fixed: 3006.2 
pip install salt>=3006.2
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-2023-20897, 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 3005.2), 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-404: Improper Resource Shutdown or Release, where the product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. 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

Salt masters prior to 3005.2 or 3006.2 contain a DOS in minion return. After receiving several bad packets on the request server equal to the number of worker threads, the master will become unresponsive to return requests until restarted.

CVE-2023-20897 Affected Salt Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3005.23006.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 3005.2
3005.2
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3006.0rc1
< 3006.2
3006.2

References

NVD — CVE-2023-20897 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20897
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2023-166.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OMWJIHQZXHK6FH2E3IWAZCYIRI7FLVOL
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://saltproject.io/security-announcements/2023-08-10-advisory

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-20897?
CVE-2023-20897 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt vulnerable to denial of service under CWE-404: Improper Resource Shutdown or Release.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3005.2, 3006.2 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2023-20897?
Upgrading to 3005.2, 3006.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 3005.2, 3006.2. Upgrade your dependency to 3005.2, 3006.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-20897?
CVE-2023-20897 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-20897?
CVE-2023-20897 is classified under CWE-404: Improper Resource Shutdown or Release (The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2023-20897?
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-vpjg-wmf8-29h9",
  "modified" : "2025-02-13T19:11:42Z",
  "published" : "2023-09-05T12:30:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-20897" ],
  "summary" : "Salt vulnerable to denial of service",
  "details" : "Salt masters prior to 3005.2 or 3006.2 contain a DOS in minion return. After receiving several bad packets on the request server equal to the number of worker threads, the master will become unresponsive to return requests until restarted.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3005.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3006.0rc1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3006.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20897"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2023-166.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OMWJIHQZXHK6FH2E3IWAZCYIRI7FLVOL"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://saltproject.io/security-announcements/2023-08-10-advisory"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-404" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-09-06T19:52:59Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-09-05T11:15:32Z"
  }
}