CVE-2015-4017: Salt Improper Certificate Validation Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8j9g-c9rp-jvg4
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-295
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-4017 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) improper certificate validation vulnerability (CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt vulnerable to improper certificate validation. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2014.7.6.

CVE-2015-4017 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-4017
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8j9g-c9rp-jvg4
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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

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 High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2015-4017

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: 2014.7.6 
pip install salt>=2014.7.6
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-2015-4017, 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 2014.7.6), 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-295: Improper Certificate Validation, where the product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate. 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 before 2014.7.6 does not verify certificates when connecting via the `aliyun`, `proxmox`, and `splunk` modules.

CVE-2015-4017 Affected Salt Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2014.7.6
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 2014.7.6
2014.7.6

References

NVD — CVE-2015-4017 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-4017
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1222960
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2014.7.6.html
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-31.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt
groups.google.com/forum/ WEB
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/salt-users/8Kv1bytGD6c
Salt Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/05/19/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-4017?
CVE-2015-4017 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt vulnerable to Improper Certificate Validation under CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2014.7.6 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2015-4017?
Upgrading to 2014.7.6 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 2014.7.6. Upgrade your dependency to 2014.7.6 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2015-4017?
CVE-2015-4017 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-4017?
CVE-2015-4017 is classified under CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation (The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2015-4017?
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-8j9g-c9rp-jvg4",
  "modified" : "2024-10-21T21:28:19Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-14T03:07:28Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-4017" ],
  "summary" : "Salt vulnerable to Improper Certificate Validation",
  "details" : "Salt before 2014.7.6 does not verify certificates when connecting via the `aliyun`, `proxmox`, and `splunk` modules.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2014.7.6"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-4017"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1222960"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2014.7.6.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-31.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/salt-users/8Kv1bytGD6c"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/05/19/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-295" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-04-29T11:12:51Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-08-25T18:29:00Z"
  }
}