CVE-2025-22237: Salt Salt's On Demand Pillar Functionality Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-fcr4-h6c4-rvvp
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CVSS 6.7
CWE-77
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-22237 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.7) salt's on demand pillar functionality vulnerability (CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')) affecting Salt libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves salt's on demand pillar functionality vulnerable to arbitrary command injections. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3006.12, 3007.4.

CVE-2025-22237 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-22237
GHSA Identifier GHSA-fcr4-h6c4-rvvp
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.7
CWE Classification CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')
Affected Product Salt
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.7

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2025-22237

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-2025-22237, 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-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component. 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

An attacker with access to a minion key can exploit the 'on demand' pillar functionality with a specially crafted git url which could cause and arbitrary command to be run on the master with the same privileges as the master process.

CVE-2025-22237 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-2025-22237 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-22237
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/9445f496fed61b15dc4364818007e5b765b0746f
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-2025-22237?
CVE-2025-22237 is a security vulnerability in Salt involving Salt's on demand pillar functionality vulnerable to arbitrary command injections under CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection').
Which Salt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3006.12, 3007.4 across affected packages: salt.
What version fixes CVE-2025-22237?
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-2025-22237?
CVE-2025-22237 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.7 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-22237?
CVE-2025-22237 is classified under CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') (The product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2025-22237?
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-fcr4-h6c4-rvvp",
  "modified" : "2025-06-13T21:19:46Z",
  "published" : "2025-06-13T09:30:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-22237" ],
  "summary" : "Salt's on demand pillar functionality vulnerable to arbitrary command injections ",
  "details" : "An attacker with access to a minion key can exploit the 'on demand' pillar functionality with a specially crafted git url which could cause and arbitrary command to be run on the master with the same privileges as the master process.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "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-2025-22237"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/9445f496fed61b15dc4364818007e5b765b0746f"
  }, {
    "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-77" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-06-13T21:19:46Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-06-13T07:15:21Z"
  }
}