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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2021-25281: An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5.

Noroxi assessment

Priority: This week (action score 61/100)

  • A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 72.9% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.4% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: salt (Alpine:v3.13) 3002.5-r0; salt (Debian:9) 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u7; salt (openSUSE:Leap 15.2) 3000-lp152.3.27.1.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. Upgrade to salt (Alpine:v3.13) 3002.5-r0; salt (Debian:9) 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u7; salt (openSUSE:Leap 15.2) 3000-lp152.3.27.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. salt-api does not honor eauth credentials for the wheel_async client. Thus, an attacker can remotely run any wheel modules on the master.

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1—Weaponized Fix available
Published
Feb 27, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
72.9% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

61

This week

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
22 / 30 · 72.9%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
saltstacksalt
fedoraprojectfedora
debiandebian linux

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux10.0
  • debian debian linux11.0
  • debian debian linux9.0
  • fedoraproject fedora32
  • fedoraproject fedora33
  • fedoraproject fedora34
  • saltstack salt2016.11.4 and later · before 2016.11.5
  • saltstack salt2016.11.7 and later · before 2016.11.10
  • saltstack salt2017.5.0 and later · before 2017.7.8
  • saltstack salt2018.2.0 and later · up to 2018.3.5 inclusive
  • saltstack saltbefore 2015.8.10
  • saltstack salt2019.2.6 and later · before 2019.2.8
  • saltstack salt3000 and later · before 3000.6
  • saltstack salt3001 and later · before 3001.4
  • saltstack salt3002 and later · before 3002.5
  • saltstack salt2019.2.0 and later · before 2019.2.5
  • saltstack salt2015.8.11 and later · before 2015.8.13
  • saltstack salt2016.3.0 and later · before 2016.3.4
  • saltstack salt2016.3.5 and later · before 2016.3.6
  • saltstack salt2016.3.7 and later · before 2016.3.8

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.13saltfrom 2015.8.11 · before 3002.5-r03002.5-r0
Debian:9saltbefore 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u72016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u7
openSUSE:Leap 15.2saltbefore 3000-lp152.3.27.13000-lp152.3.27.1
PyPIsaltfrom 2015.8.11 · before 2015.8.132015.8.13
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.11.0 · before 2016.11.32016.11.3
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.11.4 · before 2016.11.52016.11.5
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.11.7 · before 2016.11.102016.11.10
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.3.0 · before 2016.11.52016.11.5
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.3.0 · before 2016.3.42016.3.4
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.3.5 · before 2016.3.62016.3.6
PyPIsaltfrom 2016.3.7 · before 2016.3.82016.3.8
PyPIsaltfrom 2017.5.0 · before 2017.7.82017.7.8
PyPIsaltfrom 2017.7.0 · before 2017.7.82017.7.8
PyPIsaltfrom 2018.2.0 · up to and including 2018.3.5—
PyPIsaltfrom 2018.3.0rc1 · before 2019.2.0rc12019.2.0rc1
PyPIsaltfrom 2019.2.0 · before 2019.2.52019.2.5
PyPIsaltfrom 2019.2.0 · before 2019.2.82019.2.8
PyPIsaltfrom 2019.2.6 · before 2019.2.82019.2.8
PyPIsaltfrom 3000 · before 3000.73000.7
PyPIsaltfrom 3000 · before 3000.63000.6
PyPIsaltfrom 3001 · before 3001.53001.5
PyPIsaltfrom 3001 · before 3001.43001.4
PyPIsaltfrom 3002 · before 3002.53002.5
PyPIsaltfrom 3002 · before 3002.33002.3

+12

Same product

saltstack: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2020-16846An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt through 3002.KEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2020-11651An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2.KEV
    98Now
  • CVE-2020-11652An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2.KEV
    82Now

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-28972Feb 27, 2021 · In SaltStack Salt before 3002.5, authentication to VMware vcenter, vsphere, and esxi servers (in the vmware.py files) does not always valida
    24Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-35662Feb 27, 2021 · In SaltStack Salt before 3002.5, when authenticating to services using certain modules, the SSL certificate is not always validated.
    30Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-25282Feb 27, 2021 · An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5.
    64This week

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:salt3002.5-r0 · Alpine:v3.13Package registry (OSV)
debian:salt2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u7 · Debian:9Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:salt3000-lp152.3.27.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.2Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2015.8.10Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2015.8.13Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.11.10Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.11.3Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.11.5Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.3.4Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.3.6Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2016.3.8Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2017.7.8Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2019.2.0rc1Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2019.2.5Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt2019.2.8Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3000.6Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3000.7Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3001.4Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3001.5Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3002.3Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:salt3002.5Package registry (OSV)
suse:py26-compat-salt2016.11.10-6.8.1 · SUSE:Manager Server Module 4.1Package registry (OSV)
suse:release-notes-susemanager4.0.12.1-3.68.1 · SUSE:Manager Server 4.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:release-notes-susemanager-proxy4.0.12.1-0.16.52.1 · SUSE:Manager Proxy 4.0Package registry (OSV)
suse:salt3000-46.129.1 · SUSE:Manager Client Tools 12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1
  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Metasploit moduleexploit/linux/http/saltstack_salt_wheel_async_rceSaltStack Salt API Unauthenticated RCE through wheel_async clientexploit2021-02-25
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2021-25281 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:272021-02-26

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Metasploit-2 d
  2. First PoC-1 d
  3. Published
  4. TodayNov 9, 2026+2082 d

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

—

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

  • CVE-2021-3160755 days apartIn SaltStack Salt 2016.9 through 3002.6, a command injection vulnerability exists in the snapper module that allows for local privilege esca
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2020-282430 days apartAn issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3002.5.
    32Monitor

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-287 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);

Fixed

ts
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (9 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records