CVE-2024-38825: Salt Salt's Salt.auth.pki Module Does Not Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4j59-vv55-q6h3
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CVSS 6.4
CWE-287
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-38825 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.4) salt's salt.auth.pki module does not vulnerability (CWE-287: Improper Authentication) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt's salt.auth.pki module does not properly authenticate callers. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3006.12, 3007.4.

CVE-2024-38825 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-38825
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4j59-vv55-q6h3
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.4
CWE Classification CWE-287: Improper Authentication
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.4

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

How to Fix CVE-2024-38825

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: 3006.12 
pip install salt>=3006.12
salt fixed: 3007.4 
pip install salt>=3007.4
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-2024-38825, 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 3006.12), 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

The salt.auth.pki module does not properly authenticate callers. The "password" field contains a public certificate which is validated against a CA certificate by the module. This is not pki authentication, as the caller does not need access to the corresponding private key for the authentication attempt to be accepted.

CVE-2024-38825 Affected Salt Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3006.123007.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3006.0rc1
< 3006.12
3006.12
salt
pypi/salt
PyPI
≥ 3007.0rc1
< 3007.4
3007.4

References

NVD — CVE-2024-38825 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38825
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/5ff18fd0ececdfd083ddce693c3ccef30e44f155
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/d7cb64e44db5f82fd615373f5dca2eb1fb29bbab
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-2024-38825?
CVE-2024-38825 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt's salt.auth.pki module does not properly authenticate callers under CWE-287: Improper Authentication.
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3006.12, 3007.4 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2024-38825?
Upgrading to 3006.12, 3007.4 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is salt affected?
Yes, salt is affected in releases prior to 3006.12, 3007.4. Upgrade your dependency to 3006.12, 3007.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-38825?
CVE-2024-38825 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.4 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-38825?
CVE-2024-38825 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-2024-38825?
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-4j59-vv55-q6h3",
  "modified" : "2025-06-13T21:15:54Z",
  "published" : "2025-06-13T09:30:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-38825" ],
  "summary" : "Salt's salt.auth.pki module does not properly authenticate callers",
  "details" : "The salt.auth.pki module does not properly authenticate callers. The \"password\" field contains a public certificate which is validated against a CA certificate by the module. This is not pki authentication, as the caller does not need access to the corresponding private key for the authentication attempt to be accepted.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3006.0rc1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3006.12"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "salt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "3007.0rc1"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3007.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38825"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/5ff18fd0ececdfd083ddce693c3ccef30e44f155"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/d7cb64e44db5f82fd615373f5dca2eb1fb29bbab"
  }, {
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    "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-287" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-06-13T21:15:54Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-06-13T07:15:20Z"
  }
}