CVE-2022-22941
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 in versions before 3002.8, 3003.4, 3004.1. When configured as a Master-of-Masters, with a publisher_acl, if a user configured in the publisher_acl targets any minion connected to the Syndic, the Salt Master incorrectly interpreted no valid targets as valid, allowing configured users to target any of the minions connected to the syndic with their configured commands. This requires a syndic master combined with publisher_acl configured on the Master-of-Masters, allowing users specified in the publisher_acl to bypass permissions, publishing authorized commands to any configured minion.
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 confidenceIn SaltStack Salt Master-of-Masters (Syndic) configurations with publisher_acl enabled, a logic flaw causes the master to interpret 'no valid targets' as a valid match, effectively granting users in publisher_acl permission to execute their configured commands on ANY minion connected to the syndic, not just their permitted targets. This is a privilege escalation/bypass vulnerability in the ACL validation logic.
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>= 3002, < 3002.8>= 3003, < 3003.4>= 3004, < 3004.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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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Check if this Salt master is configured as a Syndic (Master-of-Masters)Inspect the Salt master configuration file (typically /etc/salt/master) for the 'syndic_master' setting, or check for the presence of a syndic daemon process running with 'ps aux | grep syndic'Affected if The Salt master is configured as a Syndic (connected to a higher-level master) and has publisher_acl enabled
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Verify if publisher_acl is enabledCheck the Salt master configuration for 'publisher_acl' or 'publisher_acl_blacklist' settings, typically found in /etc/salt/master. These settings define user-based ACLs for command execution.Affected if publisher_acl is explicitly configured with user rules (as opposed to being absent or commented out)
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Determine the installed Salt versionRun 'salt --version' or 'salt-master --version' on the master host to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is 3002.x where x < 8, OR 3003.x where x < 4, OR 3004.x where x < 1 (or if the version falls within any of the affected ranges: >=3002 <3002.8, >=3003 <3003.4, >=3004 <3004.1)
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Confirm the publisher_acl configuration contains user rulesReview the publisher_acl section in /etc/salt/master and verify that specific users are defined with permitted commands and target matchersAffected if There are publisher_acl rules configured that grant specific users permission to run commands on certain minions
The environment is affected if this is a Salt Syndic setup with publisher_acl enabled and the installed Salt version falls within the affected version ranges (3002.x < 3002.8, 3003.x < 3003.4, or 3004.x < 3004.1).
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 · scoped3002.83003.43004.1
Upgrade to SaltStack Salt versions 3002.8, 3003.4, 3004.1 or later to obtain the security fix. Alternatively, review and restrict publisher_acl configurations and consider network segmentation of syndic connections until patching is feasible.
3002.8, 3003.4, or 3004.1 (choose the appropriate version within your current major release train)
- 1. Identify the current Salt version on the Master-of-Masters by running: salt --version
- 2. If running version 3002.x (>=3002 and <3002.8), plan upgrade to 3002.8; if running 3003.x (>=3003 and <3003.4), plan upgrade to 3003.4; if running 3004.x (>=3004 and <3004.1), plan upgrade to 3004.1
- 3. Back up Salt configuration files (usually in /etc/salt/) and any pillar data before upgrading
- 4. Upgrade Salt packages using the appropriate package manager for your distribution (e.g., pip install --upgrade salt, yum install salt, or apt install salt-master)
- 5. Restart the Salt Master service after upgrade: systemctl restart salt-master
- 6. Verify the new version is running: salt --version
- 7. If using a Master-of-Masters with publisher_acl and Syndic, verify the publisher_acl configuration is working correctly after upgrade by testing permission enforcement
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22941 — 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-2022-22941 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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