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FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2020-28972

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2015.8.10 / 2015.8.13 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
In SaltStack Salt before 3002.5, authentication to VMware vcenter, vsphere, and esxi servers (in the vmware.py files) does not always validate the SSL/TLS certificate.

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 · moderate confidence

In SaltStack Salt before 3002.5, the VMware integration modules (vmware.py) do not consistently validate SSL/TLS certificates when authenticating to vcenter, vsphere, and esxi servers. This allows potential man-in-the-middle attacks where an attacker could intercept or impersonate VMware connections.

MitigationEnable and enforce SSL/TLS certificate validation in SaltStack Salt's VMware connection configurations, and upgrade to Salt 3002.5 or later which contains the fix.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 32= 33= 34
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0
SaltApplication
Affected:< 2015.8.10>= 2015.8.11, < 2015.8.13>= 2016.3.0, < 2016.3.4>= 2016.3.5, < 2016.3.6>= 2016.3.7, < 2016.3.8>= 2016.3.9, < 2016.11.3>= 2016.11.4, < 2016.11.5>= 2016.11.7, < 2016.11.10>= 2017.5.0, < 2017.7.8>= 2018.2.0, <= 2018.3.5>= 2019.2.0, < 2019.2.5>= 2019.2.6, < 2019.2.8

CVSS 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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Salt version
    Run `salt --version` or `salt-minion --version` to determine the installed Salt version
    Affected if Version falls within any of the affected ranges: < 2015.8.10, 2015.8.11-2015.8.12, 2016.3.0-2016.3.3, 2016.3.5, 2016.3.7-2016.3.7, 2016.3.9-2016.11.2, 2016.11.4-2016.11.4, 2016.11.7-2016.11.9, 2017.5.0-2017.7.7, 2018.2.0-2018.3.5, 2019.2.0-2019.2.4, or 2019.2.6-2019.2.7
  2. Verify VMware modules are present
    Locate the vmware.py module in the Salt modules directory, typically at /usr/lib/python*/site-packages/salt/modules/vmware.py or via `find / -name vmware.py -path '*salt*' 2>/dev/null`
    Affected if The vmware.py module exists in the Salt installation and is available for use
  3. Check for VMware connection usage
    Search Salt configuration files (master.d/, minion.d/, and pillar/top.sls) for references to vmware, vsphere, vcenter, or esxi connection configurations using `grep -r -E 'vmware|vsphere|vcenter|esxi' /etc/salt/`
    Affected if Any pillar, state, or configuration files reference VMware-related modules or connection profiles
  4. Inspect SSL/TLS validation settings
    Examine Salt master/minion configuration and any dedicated VMware configuration files for SSL validation flags such as `vmware.validate_ssl`, `verify_ssl`, or `ssl_verify` settings
    Affected if SSL/TLS certificate validation is explicitly disabled (set to False) or not consistently enforced in the VMware connection settings

The environment is affected if Salt version is within the vulnerable ranges AND the VMware integration modules (vmware.py) are being used to connect to vcenter, vsphere, or esxi servers without proper SSL/TLS certificate validation configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2015.8.10 / 2015.8.13 / 2016.3.4 or later
Fixed in 2015.8.102015.8.132016.3.4
Interim mitigation

Enable and enforce SSL/TLS certificate validation in SaltStack Salt's VMware connection configurations, and upgrade to Salt 3002.5 or later which contains the fix.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-28972 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data