CVE-2025-22242
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 · uneditedWorker process denial of service through file read operation. .A vulnerability exists in the Master's “pub_ret” method which is exposed to all minions. The un-sanitized input value “jid” is used to construct a path which is then opened for reading. An attacker could exploit this vulnerabilities by attempting to read from a filename that will not return any data, e.g. by targeting a pipe node on the proc file system.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability exists in Salt Master's 'pub_ret' method where the un-sanitized 'jid' (job ID) parameter is used to construct a file path for reading. An attacker (any minion) can exploit this by targeting special files like pipe nodes in /proc filesystem that never return data, causing the worker process to hang or consume resources indefinitely.
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
- High
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 is installedRun 'salt-master --version' or check package manager output (e.g., 'dpkg -l | grep salt-master', 'rpm -qa | grep salt-master')Affected if No Salt Master is installed, this CVE does not apply
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Confirm Salt Master service is runningCheck service status via 'systemctl status salt-master' or 'service salt-master status'Affected if If the service is not running, the vulnerability is not currently exploitable
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Determine installed Salt versionCompare the version output from step 1 against the affected version range for this CVE (check vendor security advisories for specific version numbers)Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable range
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Check if the Master accepts minion connectionsReview master configuration file (typically /etc/salt/master) for 'open_mode: false' and ensure default behavior allows minion authenticationAffected if Minions can authenticate and submit jobs to the Master, enabling any authenticated minion to trigger the vulnerable 'pub_ret' method
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Verify exposed Salt Master portsCheck listening ports with 'ss -tlnp | grep -E "(4505|4506)"' or 'netstat -tlnp | grep -E "(4505|4506)"'Affected if Ports 4505/4506 are accessible, allowing remote minion interaction with the vulnerable code path
You are affected if Salt Master is running, your version is within the vulnerable range, and minions can connect to submit jobs to the 'pub_ret' method.
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 dataImplement strict input validation on the 'jid' parameter to ensure only valid job ID formats are accepted, and restrict file path construction to an allowed directory with proper path traversal prevention.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-22242 — 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-2025-22242 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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