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High, CVSS 7.5amended

Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere in salt

CVE-2021-21996GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (salt 3003.3), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

Affected packages

  • PyPI salt

    Affected
    < 3003.3
    Fixed in
    3003.3

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS
7.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
  • CVE-2021-21996: 3.51% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 89.22 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. A user who has control of the source, and sourcehash URLs can gain full file system access as root on a salt minion.

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg

  2. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-21996

Advisory: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere in salt
IDs: CVE-2021-21996, GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-21996 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:22 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: salt 3003.3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI salt: affected < 3003.3; fixed in 3003.3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show salt`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on salt.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg (OSV record GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg lists affected ranges: PyPI salt >=0 <3003.3 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg lists affected ranges: PyPI salt >=0 <3003.3)

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