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SaltApplication · Saltstack

CVE-2022-22934

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3002.8 / 3003.4 or later.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 in versions before 3002.8, 3003.4, 3004.1. Salt Masters do not sign pillar data with the minion’s public key, which can result in attackers substituting arbitrary pillar data.

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, the Master does not cryptographically sign pillar data with the minion's public key before delivery. Pillar data contains sensitive configuration, secrets, and credentials used to configure minions. Without signing, an attacker who can intercept or manipulate master-minion communications can substitute arbitrary pillar data, allowing injection of malicious configurations or commands onto minions.

MitigationUpgrade Salt to version 3002.8, 3003.4, 3004.1 or later, which implements cryptographic signing of pillar data with the minion's public key to ensure integrity.

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
SaltApplication
Affected:>= 3002, < 3002.8>= 3003, < 3003.4>= 3004, < 3004.1

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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 installed Salt version
    Run `salt --version` or `salt-minion --version` on the master and any minion hosts to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The version falls within 3002.x (before 3002.8), 3003.x (before 3003.4), or 3004.x (before 3004.1)
  2. Identify if the Salt master is in use
    Verify that the host runs a Salt master process (check for salt-master daemon or process)
    Affected if A Salt master is running and serving pillar data to minions
  3. Confirm pillar data is configured
    Check if pillar data exists: look for /srv/pillar directory, pillar top.sls files, or run `salt '*' pillar.items` to enumerate configured pillar data
    Affected if Pillar data or pillar configuration files are present on the master
  4. Check for pillar signing configuration
    Examine the Salt master configuration (typically /etc/salt/master) for pillar signing-related options such as `pillar_opts: True` or any `ext_pillar` signing settings; also check if the minion configuration contains `pillar_signature` or similar signing options
    Affected if Pillar signing is not explicitly configured (the vulnerability exists in versions without cryptographic signing enabled)

You are affected if you run a vulnerable Salt version (3002.x before 3002.8, 3003.x before 3003.4, or 3004.x before 3004.1) and use pillar data to distribute secrets or configuration to minions.

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 3002.8 / 3003.4 / 3004.1 or later
Fixed in 3002.83003.43004.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Salt to version 3002.8, 3003.4, 3004.1 or later, which implements cryptographic signing of pillar data with the minion's public key to ensure integrity.

Recommended fix High confidence

3002.8, 3003.4, or 3004.1 (depending on your current major version branch)

  1. Backup your Salt Master configuration and pillar data before upgrading
  2. Upgrade Salt to version 3002.8 (if currently on 3002.x), 3003.4 (if currently on 3003.x), or 3004.1 (if currently on 3004.x)
  3. For yum-based systems: sudo yum update salt-master salt-minion
  4. For apt-based systems: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install salt-master salt-minion
  5. Verify the upgraded version by running: salt --version
  6. Restart Salt Master and Minion services: sudo systemctl restart salt-master && sudo systemctl restart salt-minion
  7. Verify pillar data integrity is working by testing a simple pillar execution
Caveat Review Salt release notes for your version branch for any breaking changes or deprecations before upgrading

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

Fix this in Salt Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.

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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-2022-22934 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