CVE-2025-22237
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 attacker with access to a minion key can exploit the 'on demand' pillar functionality with a specially crafted git url which could cause and arbitrary command to be run on the master with the same privileges as the master process.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a SaltStack vulnerability where an attacker with a compromised minion key can exploit the 'on demand' pillar functionality by using a specially crafted git URL. The malicious URL triggers arbitrary command execution on the Salt master with the same privileges as the master process, effectively allowing full master compromise from a minion key compromise.
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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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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Verify Salt master versionRun 'salt-master --version' or check the installed package version with 'rpm -q salt-master' or 'dpkg -l salt-master'Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable range and has not been patched to the fixed version
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Confirm on-demand pillar feature is enabledLook for 'ext_pillar' configurations in /etc/salt/master or /etc/salt/master.d/*.conf, specifically check for 'ondemand' or 'git' pillar configurationsAffected if The on-demand pillar feature with git URL support is configured and active
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Inspect pillar git configuration for on-demand settingsReview pillar configuration files for patterns like 'git', 'on_demand', or 'gitfs' that enable dynamic pillar fetching from git repositoriesAffected if Git-based pillar is configured with on-demand (lazy) loading enabled
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Check for untrusted or compromised minion keysRun 'salt-key -L' to list accepted minion keys and review /etc/salt/pki/master/minions/ for any unauthorized or unexpected minion connectionsAffected if There are accepted minion keys that have not been properly vetted or rotated, or show signs of compromise
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Review master process privilegesCheck the Salt master process running user with 'ps aux | grep salt-master' and verify file permissions on /etc/salt/ and /var/cache/salt/Affected if The master runs with elevated privileges and has broad filesystem access, allowing a compromised minion key to execute with those same privileges
Your environment is affected if you run a Salt master with an unpatched version where on-demand pillar with git URLs is enabled and untrusted minion keys have access to the master.
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.
From vendor dataOrganizations should immediately audit all minion keys for unauthorized access, implement strict key rotation policies, and consider disabling the on-demand pillar feature if not required. Additionally, apply network segmentation to limit minion-to-master communication and review pillar configurations for any unexpected git URLs.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-22237 — 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-2025-22237 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
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