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Critical, CVSS 9.8amended

SaltStack Salt Improper Authentication vulnerability

CVE-2021-25281GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p

What to do

Partial vendor fix. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check back for a fix.

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.

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Affected packages

  • PyPI salt

    Affected
    < 2015.8.13>= 2016.3.0, < 2016.11.5>= 2016.11.7, < 2016.11.10>= 2017.5.0, < 2017.7.8>= 2018.2.0, <= 2018.3.5>= 2019.2.0, < 2019.2.8>= 3000, < 3000.7>= 3001, < 3001.5>= 3002, < 3002.3
    Fixed in
    2016.11.5, 3000.7, 2019.2.8, 2015.8.13, 3002.3, 3001.5, 2017.7.8, 2016.11.10

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS
9.8 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
  • CVE-2021-25281: 73.13% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 99.46 (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 through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. salt-api does not honor eauth credentials for the wheelasync client. Thus, an attacker can remotely run any wheel modules on the master.

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

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p

  2. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p

Agent brief

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-25281

Advisory: SaltStack Salt Improper Authentication vulnerability
IDs: CVE-2021-25281, GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-25281 (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: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: salt 3002.3, 3001.5, 3000.7, 2019.2.8, 2017.7.8, 2016.11.10, 2016.11.5, 2015.8.13. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI salt: affected < 2015.8.13; >= 2016.3.0, < 2016.11.5; >= 2016.11.7, < 2016.11.10; >= 2017.5.0, < 2017.7.8; >= 2018.2.0, <= 2018.3.5; >= 2019.2.0, < 2019.2.8; >= 3000, < 3000.7; >= 3001, < 3001.5; >= 3002, < 3002.3; fixed in 2016.11.5, 3000.7, 2019.2.8, 2015.8.13, 3002.3, 3001.5, 2017.7.8, 2016.11.10

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

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## 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-xxw3-765m-f37p (OSV record GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p lists affected ranges: PyPI salt >=0 =2016.3.0 =2016.11.7 =2017.5.0 =2018.2.0 =2019.2.0 =3000 =3001 =3002 <3002.3 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-xxw3-765m-f37p lists affected ranges: PyPI salt >=0 =2016.3.0 =2016.11.7 =2017.5.0 =2018.2.0 =2019.2.0 =3000 =3001 =3002 <3002.3)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.

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