Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2020-11651
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2. The salt-master process ClearFuncs class does not properly validate method calls. This allows a remote user to access some methods without authentication. These methods can be used to retrieve user tokens from the salt master and/or run arbitrary commands on salt minions.
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 confidenceAuthentication bypass in SaltStack Salt's ClearFuncs class allows unauthenticated remote attackers to access sensitive methods without validation. Attackers can steal user tokens from the salt master and execute arbitrary commands on all connected salt minions.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0= 9.0= 10.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 16.04= 18.04
Application Remote CollectorApplication
= 7.5.0= 8.0.0< 2019.2.4>= 3000, < 3000.2= 15.1CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Identify if Salt is installedRun 'salt-minion --version' or 'salt-master --version' to check for Salt installationAffected if Salt is installed and version is < 2019.2.4 or >= 300.0 but < 3000.2
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Check running Salt servicesRun 'ps aux | grep salt' or 'systemctl list-units | grep salt' to identify running salt-master or salt-minion processesAffected if salt-master process is running on the system
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Verify salt-master port exposureCheck if port 4506 is listening (e.g., 'netstat -tlnp | grep 4506' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 4506')Affected if Port 4506 is bound to a non-localhost interface (0.0.0.0 or external IP)
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Inspect ClearFuncs exposureReview Salt master configuration in /etc/salt/master for 'external_auth' settings; check if the 'clear' transport or ClearFuncs class is enabled by reviewing the Salt API exposureAffected if No external authentication is configured or ClearFuncs API endpoints are accessible without auth
A system is affected if it runs Salt version lower than 2019.2.4 or between 3000 and 3000.1, with the salt-master service exposed on a network interface accessible to attackers.
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.
dbcve · scoped2019.2.43000.2
Upgrade Salt to version 2019.2.4 or 3000.2 or later. Additionally, restrict network access to the salt-master port (4506/4505) and avoid exposing Salt services to untrusted networks.
Salt 2019.2.4 (for 2019.x branch) or Salt 3000.2 (for 3000 branch)
- 1. Back up your Salt master configuration and any custom states/pillars
- 2. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Update package lists with 'apt-get update'
- 3. For Debian/Ubuntu systems: Upgrade Salt packages with 'apt-get install salt-master salt-minion salt-api'
- 4. For SUSE/openSUSE Leap 15.1: Run 'zypper update salt salt-master salt-minion'
- 5. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release: 'salt --version' should show 2019.2.4 or 3000.2
- 6. Restart Salt services: 'systemctl restart salt-master' and 'systemctl restart salt-minion'
- 7. Verify the vulnerability is patched by checking that unauthenticated access to ClearFuncs methods is no longer possible
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11651 — 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-2020-11651 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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