CVE-2024-38824: Salt Path Traversal Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8pcp-r83j-fc92
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CVSS 9.6
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-38824 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.6) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt vulnerable to directory traversal attack in file receiving method. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3007.4, 3006.12.

CVE-2024-38824 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-38824
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8pcp-r83j-fc92
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.6
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.6

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2024-38824

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-2024-38824, 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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'), where the product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. 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

Directory traversal vulnerability in recv_file method allows arbitrary files to be written to the master cache directory.

CVE-2024-38824 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-2024-38824 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38824
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/c4ad23f0f3132d8d8a88f19fa537dc42cf21b215
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-2024-38824?
CVE-2024-38824 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt vulnerable to directory traversal attack in file receiving method under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3007.4, 3006.12 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2024-38824?
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-2024-38824?
CVE-2024-38824 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.6 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-38824?
CVE-2024-38824 is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2024-38824?
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-8pcp-r83j-fc92",
  "modified" : "2025-06-13T21:58:01Z",
  "published" : "2025-06-13T09:30:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-38824" ],
  "summary" : "Salt vulnerable to directory traversal attack in file receiving method",
  "details" : "Directory traversal vulnerability in recv_file method allows arbitrary files to be written to the master cache directory.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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-2024-38824"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/c4ad23f0f3132d8d8a88f19fa537dc42cf21b215"
  }, {
    "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" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-06-13T21:58:01Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-06-13T08:15:18Z"
  }
}