CVE-2021-22004
Improper Authentication in SaltStack Salt
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
CVE-2021-22004- CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 4.4 Medium
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-362
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
CVE-2021-22004- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-0226 No score
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
EUVD-2021-0226- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-xf37-qcvf-7m57
Improper Authentication in SaltStack Salt
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
GHSA-xf37-qcvf-7m57- CVSS 4.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2021-22004
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2021-22004- CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
OSV
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
CVE-2021-22004- CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-xf37-qcvf-7m57
Improper Authentication in SaltStack Salt
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
GHSA-xf37-qcvf-7m57- CVSS 4.0
- 7.5 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2021-22004
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2021-22004- CVSS 3.1
- 6.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2021-346 No score
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.
- Record
PYSEC-2021-346- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
saltPyPI |
before 3003.3 | 3003.3 |
saltAlpine:v3.14 |
before 3003.3-r0 | 3003.3-r0 |
saltPyPI |
before 3003.3, plus listed versions 0.10.00.10.10.10.20.10.30.10.4 Show 45 moreShow less0.10.50.11.00.11.10.12.00.12.10.13.00.13.10.13.20.13.30.14.00.14.10.15.00.15.10.15.20.15.30.15.900.16.00.16.10.16.20.16.30.16.40.17.00.17.0rc10.17.10.17.20.17.30.17.40.17.50.8.70.8.90.9.00.9.10.9.20.9.30.9.40.9.50.9.60.9.70.9.80.9.90.9.9.12014.1.02014.1.0rc12014.1.0rc22014.1.0rc3 |
3003.3 |
saltPyPI |
before 3003.3, plus listed versions 0.10.00.10.10.10.20.10.30.10.4 Show 45 moreShow less0.10.50.11.00.11.10.12.00.12.10.13.00.13.10.13.20.13.30.14.00.14.10.15.00.15.10.15.20.15.30.15.900.16.00.16.10.16.20.16.30.16.40.17.00.17.0rc10.17.10.17.20.17.30.17.40.17.50.8.70.8.90.9.00.9.10.9.20.9.30.9.40.9.50.9.60.9.70.9.80.9.90.9.9.12014.1.02014.1.0rc12014.1.0rc22014.1.0rc3 |
3003.3 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases, references | OSV | |
| affected | ||
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-22004 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.4) in Saltstack Salt, published September 8, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.35%, the 29th percentile. Fixed in salt 3003.3.
References
saltproject.io/security_announcements/salt-security-advisory-2021-sep-02
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MBAHHSGZLEJRCG4DX6J4RBWJAAWH55RQ
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22004
github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/salt/PYSEC-2021-346.yaml
Show 8 moreShow less
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-22004
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-22004
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22004
Left out here: 300 versions. The JSON record has them.