CVE-2020-11651
An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2. The salt-master process ClearFuncs class does not properly validate method calls. This allows a remote user to access some methods without authentication. These methods can be used to retrieve user tokens from the salt master and/or run arbitrary commands on salt minions.
- CVSS
- 9.8Criticalscored by CISA
- Exploited in the wild
- Yes, in CISA KEV since 3 Nov 2021CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 3 May 2022public exploit code
- EPSS
- 96.6%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.2% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
- Fix
- Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
- Published
- 30 Apr 2020analysed here 12 Nov 2026
Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)
Summary
Triage
- Exploitable
- At runtime
- Attack vector
- network
- Can a WAF block it?
- Partly. See why
The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.
Affected products
Products named in our analysis
- saltstack:salt
- opensuse:leap
- debian:debian_linux
- canonical:ubuntu_linux
- vmware:application_remote_collector
Fix and mitigation
WAF and other mitigations
Can a WAF block it? Partly. The bug can be reached over the network, so generic WAF rules may stop some attacks. Its weakness type is unknown, so we cannot be more precise.
Also consider: patch
Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Remediation steps (AI-written)
Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
Exploitation evidence
- CISA KEV catalog
- Listed since 3 Nov 2021.
- CISA due date
- 3 May 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
- CISA required action
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- Public exploit code
- Yes: 1 on Exploit-DB · 2 Metasploit modules · 15 GitHub proofs of concept
- CISA SSVC
- exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 7 Feb 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.
Exploit-DB
- Saltstack 3000.1 - Remote Code Executionremote, 5 May 2020
Metasploit
- exploit/linux/misc/saltstack_salt_unauth_rceexploit, rank great
- auxiliary/gather/saltstack_salt_root_keyauxiliary, rank normal
GitHub proofs of concept
- jasperla/CVE-2020-11651-poc123 stars
- rossengeorgiev/salt-security-backports109 stars
- dozernz/cve-2020-11651106 stars
- 0xc0d/CVE-2020-1165140 stars
and 11 more repositories
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
Timeline
- 30 Apr 2020Published
- 1 May 2020First public exploit or proof of conceptsame day later
- 3 Nov 2021Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)551 days (about 2 years) later
- 3 May 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)181 days (about 6 months) later
- 7 Feb 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active1,012 days (about 3 years) later
- 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated256 days (about 9 months) later
- 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Attack vector | NetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network. | Reachable over the internet or any routable network. |
| Attack complexity | LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions. | Repeatable attack, no special conditions. |
| Privileges required | NoneThe attacker needs no prior access. | The attacker needs no prior access. |
| User interaction | NoneNo victim action needed. | No victim action needed. |
| Scope | UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component. | Impact stays within the vulnerable component. |
| Confidentiality | HighTotal data disclosure possible. | Total data disclosure possible. |
| Integrity | HighComplete modification possible. | Complete modification possible. |
| Availability | HighFull outage possible. | Full outage possible. |
Common questions
Is CVE-2020-11651 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2020-11651 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2020-11651?
CVE-2020-11651 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2020-11651?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2020-11651. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2020-11651 affect?
CVE-2020-11651 affects saltstack:salt, opensuse:leap, debian:debian_linux, canonical:ubuntu_linux, and 1 further product or version. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
References
12 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.
Advisories (5)
- lists.opensuse.org /opensuse-security-announce/2020-04/msg00047.html
- debian.org /security/2020/dsa-4676
- tools.cisco.com /security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-salt-2vx545AG
- lists.opensuse.org /opensuse-security-announce/2020-07/msg00070.html
- usn.ubuntu.com /4459-1/
Other links (7)
- docs.saltstack.com /en/latest/topics/releases/2019.2.4.html
- github.com /saltstack/salt/blob/v3000.2_docs/doc/topics/releases/3000.2.rst
- packetstormsecurity.com /files/157560/Saltstack-3000.1-Remote-Code-Execution.html
- vmware.com /security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0009.html
- packetstormsecurity.com /files/157678/SaltStack-Salt-Master-Minion-Unauthenticated-Remote-Code-Execution
- lists.debian.org /debian-lts-announce/2020/05/msg00027.html
Show 1 more
- cisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-11651
Where the data on this page comes from
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Exploit-DB: published exploits
- Metasploit Framework: exploit and scanner modules
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.
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