CVE-2025-22236
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 · uneditedMinion event bus authorization bypass. An attacker with access to a minion key can craft a message which may be able to execute a job on other minions (>= 3007.0).
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 confidenceThis is a SaltStack authorization bypass where an attacker with access to a compromised minion key can craft malicious messages through the minion event bus to execute jobs on other minions. The vulnerability exists in Salt versions >= 3007.0, allowing lateral movement within the Salt infrastructure by bypassing authorization checks on inter-minion communication.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L
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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Determine installed Salt versionRun 'salt --version' or 'salt-minion --version' on the Salt master and minion hostsAffected if The version reported is 3007.0 or higher (any 3007.x, 3008.x, or later release)
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Verify inter-minion communication is enabledInspect the Salt master configuration file (typically /etc/salt/master) for settings that allow minion-to-minion communication, such as 'minion_pub' or similar event bus publication settingsAffected if Inter-minion communication or event bus publishing is explicitly enabled in the master configuration
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Confirm event bus is activeCheck if the Salt master process is running and the event bus (event publisher) is active by reviewing running processes or master logsAffected if The Salt master event bus is operational and accepting events from minions
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Review minion key acceptance policyExamine the Salt master configuration for 'auto_accept' settings or review the list of accepted minion keys in /etc/salt/pki/master/minions/Affected if Multiple minion keys are accepted or auto-accept is enabled, increasing the attack surface for lateral movement
You are affected if your Salt version is 3007.0 or higher AND inter-minion event bus communication is enabled, allowing a compromised minion key to inject malicious messages for lateral movement.
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 · scopedUpgrade Salt to the patched version or implement additional event bus authorization controls. Additionally, rotate any potentially compromised minion keys and review minion key access controls to limit exposure.
Upgrade to the latest Salt release that includes the fix for CVE-2025-22236 (check docs.saltproject.io for the specific fixed version number)
- 1. Identify the currently installed Salt version using: salt --version or salt-minion --version
- 2. If running version 3007.0 or later, plan an upgrade to the fixed release
- 3. Update Salt Master and all Minions to the same fixed version to maintain compatibility
- 4. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
- 5. After upgrading, verify the fix by confirming that minions without proper authorization can no longer execute jobs on other minions
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-22236 — 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-2025-22236 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data