CVE-2016-3176: Salt Salt Insecure Configuration Of PAM Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-v2rp-9cpj-pfw2
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CVSS 5.6
CWE-287
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-3176 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.6) salt insecure configuration of pam vulnerability (CWE-287: Improper Authentication) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt insecure configuration of pam external authentication service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2015.5.10, 2015.8.8.

CVE-2016-3176 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-3176
GHSA Identifier GHSA-v2rp-9cpj-pfw2
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.6
CWE Classification CWE-287: Improper Authentication
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:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
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-2016-3176

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: 2015.5.10 
pip install salt>=2015.5.10
salt fixed: 2015.8.8 
pip install salt>=2015.8.8
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-2016-3176, 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 2015.5.10), 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-287: Improper Authentication, where when an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct. 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 2015.5.10 and 2015.8.x before 2015.8.8, when PAM external authentication is enabled, allows attackers to bypass the configured authentication service by passing an alternate service with a command sent to LocalClient.

CVE-2016-3176 Affected Salt Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2015.5.102015.8.8
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 2015.5.10
2015.5.10
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2015.8
< 2015.8.8
2015.8.8

References

NVD — CVE-2016-3176 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3176
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2015.5.10.html
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2015.8.8.html
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-33.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-3176?
CVE-2016-3176 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt Insecure configuration of PAM external authentication service under CWE-287: Improper Authentication.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2015.5.10, 2015.8.8 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2016-3176?
Upgrading to 2015.5.10, 2015.8.8 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 2015.5.10, 2015.8.8. Upgrade your dependency to 2015.5.10, 2015.8.8 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-3176?
CVE-2016-3176 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.6 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-3176?
CVE-2016-3176 is classified under CWE-287: Improper Authentication (When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2016-3176?
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-v2rp-9cpj-pfw2",
  "modified" : "2024-10-21T21:27:52Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T03:01:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-3176" ],
  "summary" : "Salt Insecure configuration of PAM external authentication service",
  "details" : "Salt before 2015.5.10 and 2015.8.x before 2015.8.8, when PAM external authentication is enabled, allows attackers to bypass the configured authentication service by passing an alternate service with a command sent to LocalClient.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2015.5.10"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2015.8"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2015.8.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-3176"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2015.5.10.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/2015.8.8.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2017-33.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-287" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-04-29T16:48:48Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-01-31T19:59:00Z"
  }
}