CVE-2020-17490: Salt SaltStack Salt Allows Creating Certificates Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3c56-vx6v-q5vh
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-732
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-17490 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) saltstack salt allows creating certificates vulnerability (CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves saltstack salt allows creating certificates with weak file permissions. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.6, 3000.4, 3001.2, 3002.1.

CVE-2020-17490 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-17490
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3c56-vx6v-q5vh
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2020-17490

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: 2015.8.13 
pip install salt>=2015.8.13
salt fixed: 2016.3.8 
pip install salt>=2016.3.8
salt fixed: 2016.11.10 
pip install salt>=2016.11.10
salt fixed: 2017.7.8 
pip install salt>=2017.7.8
salt fixed: 2018.3.5 
pip install salt>=2018.3.5
salt fixed: 2019.2.6 
pip install salt>=2019.2.6
salt fixed: 3000.4 
pip install salt>=3000.4
salt fixed: 3001.2 
pip install salt>=3001.2
salt fixed: 3002.1 
pip install salt>=3002.1
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-2020-17490, 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 2015.8.13), 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-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource, where the product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. 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

The TLS module within SaltStack Salt through 3002 creates certificates with weak file permissions.

CVE-2020-17490 Affected Salt Versions

9 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2015.8.132016.3.82016.11.102017.7.82018.3.52019.2.63000.43001.23002.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
< 2015.8.13
2015.8.13
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2016.3.0
< 2016.3.8
2016.3.8
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2016.11.0
< 2016.11.10
2016.11.10
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2017.5.0
< 2017.7.8
2017.7.8
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2018.2.0
< 2018.3.5
2018.3.5
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 2019.2.0
< 2019.2.6
2019.2.6
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3000
< 3000.4
3000.4
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3001
< 3001.2
3001.2
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3002
< 3002.1
3002.1

References

NVD — CVE-2020-17490 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17490
Salt Release RELEASE
https://docs.saltstack.com/en/latest/topics/releases/index.html#latest-branch-release
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2020-105.yaml
Salt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/saltstack/salt
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/2019.2.6.rst#L10
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3000.4.rst#L10
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3001.2.rst#L10
Salt Release RELEASE
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/8f9405cf8e6f7d7776d5000841c886dec6d96250/doc/topics/releases/3002.1.rst#L13
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00007.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TPOGB2F6XUAIGFDTOCQDNB2VIXFXHWMA
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-13
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4837
Salt Security Information SECURITY
https://www.saltstack.com/blog/on-november-3-2020-saltstack-publicly-disclosed-three-new-cves
Salt Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00029.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-17490?
CVE-2020-17490 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving SaltStack Salt Allows creating certificates with weak file permissions under CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.6, 3000.4, 3001.2, 3002.1 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2020-17490?
Upgrading to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.6, 3000.4, 3001.2, 3002.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.6, 3000.4, 3001.2, 3002.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2015.8.13, 2016.3.8, 2016.11.10, 2017.7.8, 2018.3.5, 2019.2.6, 3000.4, 3001.2, 3002.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-17490?
CVE-2020-17490 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-17490?
CVE-2020-17490 is classified under CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource (The product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-17490?
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 
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  "id" : "GHSA-3c56-vx6v-q5vh",
  "modified" : "2024-10-22T14:54:09Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:33:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-17490" ],
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}