dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2021-25283

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. The jinja renderer does not protect against server side template injection attacks.

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

The Jinja renderer in SaltStack Salt versions before 3002.5 lacks protection against server-side template injection (SSTI), enabling remote attackers to inject and execute malicious Jinja template code server-side, potentially achieving remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade SaltStack Salt to version 3002.5 or later which implements proper safeguards in the Jinja renderer to prevent template injection attacks.

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if SaltStack Salt is installed
    Run `salt --version` or `salt-minion --version` to identify the installed Salt version
    Affected if Salt is installed and the version falls within the affected ranges: < 2015.8.10, >= 2015.8.11 and < 2015.8.13, >= 2016.3.0 and < 2016.3.4, >= 2016.3.5 and < 2016.3.6, >= 2016.3.7 and < 2016.3.8, >= 2016.3.9 and < 2016.11.3, >= 2016.11.4 and < 2016.11.5, >= 2016.11.7 and < 2016.11.10, >= 2017.5.0 and
  2. Verify the salt-master service exposure
    Check network configuration to determine if the salt-master service (default port 4506) is listening on interfaces accessible from untrusted networks
    Affected if The salt-master is exposed to untrusted or public networks, allowing remote attackers to send malicious Jinja template payloads
  3. Confirm Jinja template rendering is in use
    Review Salt configuration files (master config at /etc/salt/master or minion config at /etc/salt/minion) to confirm template rendering is enabled, which is enabled by default in Salt
    Affected if Jinja template rendering is active, which is the default state for Salt installations and is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable
  4. Check for recent authentication activity
    Review salt-master logs for unusual Jinja template requests or authentication attempts from untrusted sources in /var/log/salt/master or equivalent log location
    Affected if There are log entries indicating Jinja template injection attempts or unexpected template rendering requests

Your environment is affected if SaltStack Salt is installed with a version below 3002.5 and the salt-master service is accessible to untrusted networks where attackers could inject malicious Jinja template code.

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.

dbcve · scoped
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 which implements proper safeguards in the Jinja renderer to prevent template injection attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to SaltStack Salt 3002.5 or later (e.g., 3002.5, 3003.x, or latest stable 3004.x/3005.x)

  1. Identify the current Salt version installed using: salt --version or rpm -q salt
  2. Consult the SaltStack upgrade guide for your installation method (pip, package manager, etc.)
  3. For pip installations: pip install --upgrade salt==3002.5 or later
  4. For system packages: update your package repository and run: dnf update salt (Fedora) or apt-get update && apt-get install salt (Debian)
  5. After upgrading, restart all Salt services (salt-master, salt-minion) to load the fixed version
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking: salt --version
  7. Test that templates using Jinja rendering work correctly with the new version
Caveat Review release notes for breaking changes between your current version and 3002.5+; pay special attention to any deprecated features or configuration changes in the jinja renderer

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

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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-2021-25283 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