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FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2020-35662

HIGH · 7.4 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 →
83/100
Remediation priority · High
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, when authenticating to services using certain modules, the SSL certificate is not always validated.

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 confidence

In SaltStack Salt before 3002.5, when authenticating to services using certain modules, the SSL certificate is not properly validated, allowing potential man-in-the-middle attacks where an attacker could intercept encrypted communications by presenting a fraudulent certificate.

MitigationUpgrade SaltStack Salt to version 3002.5 or later to ensure proper SSL certificate validation is enforced for all module authentication flows.

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
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed Salt version
    Run `salt --version` or `salt-minion --version` to get the exact version number
    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, 2016.3.9-2016.11.2, 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, 2019.2.6-2019.2.7, or any version before 3002.5 (based on s
  2. Identify Salt modules performing service authentication
    Review Salt configuration files (master and minion configs) and identify usage of modules that authenticate to external services, such as the `rest_cherrypy` module, `salt-api`, or any module connecting to cloud providers or external APIs
    Affected if Any module is configured that accepts credentials or connects to external services using SSL/TLS without additional certificate validation configuration
  3. Check for SSL verification settings in Salt configuration
    Examine Salt master/minion configuration files (typically `/etc/salt/master` or `/etc/salt/minion`) for settings like `verify_ssl`, `ssl_verify`, or similar SSL verification options, and check whether they are explicitly set to true or false
    Affected if `verify_ssl` or `ssl_verify` is set to `False` or is absent with default behavior not enforcing certificate validation for the affected modules
  4. Inspect running Salt API or REST endpoints
    Check if `salt-api` or REST cherrypy modules are running (look for processes: `salt-api`, or port 8000-8001 listening) and review their configuration in `/etc/salt/master` for REST-related settings
    Affected if Salt API or REST interface is enabled and configured without explicit SSL certificate validation enforcement

Environment is affected if running an affected Salt version AND using any Salt modules that authenticate to external services with SSL/TLS without properly enforced certificate validation.

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

Upgrade SaltStack Salt to version 3002.5 or later to ensure proper SSL certificate validation is enforced for all module authentication flows.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2020-35662 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