FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2021-3197
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 3002.5. The salt-api's ssh client is vulnerable to a shell injection by including ProxyCommand in an argument, or via ssh_options provided in an API request.
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 confidenceThe salt-api's SSH client is vulnerable to shell injection via ProxyCommand arguments or ssh_options provided in API requests, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the Salt master. This affects all Salt versions prior to 3002.5.
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
= 32= 33= 34
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0< 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, < 2019.2.8CVSS 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 Salt versionRun 'salt --version' or check the package manager for the installed Salt package version (e.g., rpm -qa | grep salt or dpkg -l | grep salt)Affected if The installed version matches any of 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 < 2017.7.
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Confirm salt-api is runningCheck for salt-api process (ps aux | grep salt-api) or check if port 8000 or configured API port is listening (netstat -tlnp | grep -E '8000|API')Affected if salt-api process is active and listening on a network interface, making the SSH client injection accessible to remote attackers
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Verify SSH client via API is accessibleCheck if the salt-api endpoint for SSH commands (such as /run or SSH-related runners) is accessible without proper authentication or access controlsAffected if The salt-api SSH functionality is reachable without strict authentication, allowing attackers to supply malicious ProxyCommand arguments or ssh_options
The environment is affected if Salt version is prior to 3002.5 AND salt-api with SSH client functionality is exposed to the network.
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 · scoped2015.8.102015.8.132016.3.4
Upgrade Salt to version 3002.5 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable salt-api or implement strict access controls to prevent unauthenticated API requests.
Salt version 3002.5 or later (or the latest stable 300x release)
- 1. Identify current Salt and salt-api version using 'salt --version' or 'salt-api --version'
- 2. For Debian-based systems: run 'apt-get update && apt-get install salt-api' or 'apt-get install salt-api=3002.5*' to upgrade to the fixed version
- 3. For Fedora systems: run 'dnf update salt-api' to upgrade to the fixed version
- 4. Restart salt-api service after upgrade: 'systemctl restart salt-api'
- 5. Verify the installed version is 3002.5 or later to confirm the vulnerability is patched
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,992.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3197 — 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-2021-3197 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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- 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
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