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FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2021-3148

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 SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. Sending crafted web requests to the Salt API can result in salt.utils.thin.gen_thin() command injection because of different handling of single versus double quotes. This is related to salt/utils/thin.py.

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

A command injection vulnerability exists in SaltStack Salt's API before version 3002.5. The issue is in the salt.utils.thin.gen_thin() function within salt/utils/thin.py, where improper handling of quote characters (single vs double quotes) in crafted web requests allows attackers to inject arbitrary commands. This is a critical remote code execution vulnerability accessible via the Salt API.

MitigationUpgrade SaltStack Salt to version 3002.5 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until upgraded, restrict network access to the Salt API to trusted IPs only and ensure strong authentication is enforced.

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. Identify installed Salt version
    Run 'salt --version' or 'salt-master --version' to determine the installed version of SaltStack Salt
    Affected if The version is less than 2015.8.10; OR between 2015.8.11 and 2015.8.12; OR between 2016.3.0 and 2016.3.3; OR between 2016.3.5 and 2016.3.5; OR between 2016.3.7 and 2016.3.7; OR between 2016.3.9 and 2016.11.2; OR between 2016.11.4 and 2016.11.4; OR between 2016.11.7 and 2016.11.9; OR between 2017.5.0
  2. Verify Salt API is exposed
    Check if the Salt API service (salt-api) is running and listening on network ports. Look for processes containing 'salt-api' or check for listening ports 8000-8008 commonly used by Salt API
    Affected if The Salt API is running and accessible on a network interface
  3. Confirm vulnerable module exists
    Inspect the file salt/utils/thin.py in the Salt installation directory and verify the gen_thin() function is present
    Affected if The salt/utils/thin.py file exists with the gen_thin() function available to be called via the API
  4. Check API authentication settings
    Review Salt API configuration files (typically /etc/salt/master or /etc/salt/api) for authentication settings, specifically whether external authentication is required for API endpoints
    Affected if Weak or no authentication is configured for the Salt API endpoints

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Salt version (as listed above) with the Salt API exposed and accessible, allowing remote attackers to inject commands through the gen_thin() function via crafted web requests.

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 to remediate this vulnerability. Until upgraded, restrict network access to the Salt API to trusted IPs only and ensure strong authentication is enforced.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to SaltStack Salt version 3002.5 or later (e.g., 3002.5, 3003.x, or latest stable 3006.x)

  1. 1. Back up your Salt master configuration and state files before proceeding.
  2. 2. For systems running Salt packages: Upgrade Salt to version 3002.5 or later using your system's package manager (e.g., yum, dnf, apt).
  3. 3. For pip-based installations: Run 'pip install --upgrade salt>=3002.5' to get the patched version.
  4. 4. After upgrading, restart the Salt master service: 'systemctl restart salt-master' (or equivalent for your init system).
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade by checking the Salt version: 'salt --version' and confirm it shows 3002.5 or higher.
  6. 6. Test that the Salt API responds correctly and basic Salt commands function normally.
  7. 7. Review Salt API access controls and ensure the API is not exposed to untrusted networks, as a defense-in-depth measure.
Caveat Minor: Upgrading across major version branches (e.g., 2015.x/2016.x to 3002+) may require reviewing deprecated configuration options and module syntax; test in staging first

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

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2021-3148 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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