CVE-2017-5200
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedSalt-api in SaltStack Salt before 2015.8.13, 2016.3.x before 2016.3.5, and 2016.11.x before 2016.11.2 allows arbitrary command execution on a salt-master via Salt's ssh_client.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe salt-api component in SaltStack Salt contains a command injection vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the salt-master server by leveraging Salt's ssh_client functionality. This occurs because user-supplied input to the salt-api is not properly sanitized before being passed to the underlying ssh client execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 2015.8.12= 2016.3.0= 2016.3.1= 2016.3.2= 2016.3.3= 2016.3.4= 2016.11.0= 2016.11.1= 2016.11.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if salt-api is installedRun 'which salt-api' or check for the salt-api package using your system's package manager (e.g., 'rpm -qa | grep salt-api' on RHEL/CentOS or 'dpkg -l | grep salt-api' on Debian/Ubuntu)Affected if salt-api is installed and the salt-master service is running
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Verify the Salt versionRun 'salt --version' or 'salt-master --version' to obtain the installed Salt version numberAffected if The installed version is 2015.8.12 or earlier, OR matches any of these exact versions: 2016.3.0, 2016.3.1, 2016.3.2, 2016.3.3, 2016.3.4, 2016.11.0, 2016.11.1, or 2016.11.2
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Confirm salt-api is network accessibleCheck the salt-api configuration file (typically in /etc/salt/master.d/ or /etc/salt/api) and look for listen interfaces. Run 'netstat -tlnp | grep salt' or 'ss -tlnp | grep salt' to identify ports the salt-master and salt-api are listening onAffected if The salt-api service (typically port 8000) is bound to 0.0.0.0 or an IP address accessible from untrusted networks
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Verify ssh_client functionality exposureReview salt-api logs and configuration to confirm the ssh_client runner is accessible through the API. Check /var/log/salt/api for requests to ssh-related endpointsAffected if The salt-api interface is reachable and the ssh_client functionality can be invoked through the API without additional authentication or network restrictions
The environment is affected if salt-api is installed, the Salt version matches the affected list, and the salt-api interface is network-accessible to allow remote attackers to trigger the command injection via ssh_client functionality.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Salt to version 2015.8.13, 2016.3.5, or 2016.11.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, restrict access to the salt-api interface to trusted networks only.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-5200 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-5200 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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