Secuno
ENNL
Book demo

CVE-2020-16846

SaltStack Salt Shell Injection

9.8 CRITICALActively exploited (CISA KEV)Public exploitEPSS 99.6%
  1. Published6 Nov 2020
  2. Added to CISA KEV3 Nov 2021
  3. Remediation due3 May 2022
Actively exploited (CISA KEV)

SaltStack Salt allows an unauthenticated user with network access to the Salt API to use shell injections to run code on the Salt API using the SSH client. This vulnerability affects any users running the Salt API.

Added to KEV: 3 Nov 2021Federal remediation due: 3 May 2022

Description

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt through 3002. Sending crafted web requests to the Salt API, with the SSH client enabled, can result in shell injection.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Attack vectorNetwork
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

Saltstack Salt≥ 2015.8.11 < 2015.8.13 · ≥ 2016.11.0 < 2016.11.3 · ≥ 2016.11.4 < 2016.11.6 · ≥ 2016.11.7 < 2016.11.10
Debian Linux10.0 · 9.0
Fedoraproject Fedora31
Opensuse Leap15.1

Remediation

Fixed in
Saltstack Salt≥ 2015.8.13

References

and 5 more references

Related CVEs

Recent high-severity vulnerabilities sharing a weakness type.

CVE-2026-10911010.0
A flaw has been found in Wavlink WL-WN592AX6 250422. This issue affects the function…
CVE-2026-1091089.9
A security vulnerability has been detected in Wavlink WL-WN530BE1-A 251117. This…
CVE-2026-820968.8
IBM DataStage on Cloud Pak for Data 5.4.0.0 could allow a remote authenticated attacker…
CVE-2026-185298.7
IBM Maximo Application Suite - Location Service for Esri Component 9.2, 9.1, and 9.0 is…
CVE-2025-714299.8
GPT-SoVITS through 20250606v2pro contains an OS command injection vulnerability in…
CVE-2020-372798.1
easy-pdf-merge 0.1.0 through 0.2.6 contains an OS command injection vulnerability that…

Frequently asked

Is CVE-2020-16846 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2020-16846 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added 3 Nov 2021.

How severe is CVE-2020-16846?

CVE-2020-16846 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, rated critical. EPSS estimates a 99.6% probability of exploitation.

Which products are affected by CVE-2020-16846?

Affected products include Saltstack Salt, Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Opensuse Leap.

How do I fix CVE-2020-16846?

Upgrade affected software to a fixed version, for example Saltstack Salt 2015.8.13 or later, then confirm no affected versions remain in your inventory.

How Secuno handles this

Secuno correlates vulnerabilities like CVE-2020-16846 against the real software inventory on every managed device, as each hourly inventory arrives. Rather than a static severity, each match is scored in context: exploit availability, EPSS, the asset's exposure, and business criticality decide where it lands in the queue. Because it is on the CISA KEV list, a risk for it never ranks below high, and the update that fixes it moves to the Emergency patch lane. If an affected version is present anywhere across your portfolio, it surfaces automatically with a prioritised remediation path.

See how prioritisation worksBook a demo

Get Patch this first every Monday

Five vulnerabilities that matter this week, ranked on real exploitation. Plain language, one email, no spam.

You can unsubscribe with one click from every issue. We handle your details as described in our privacy policy.

Data from the NVD, CISA KEV catalog and FIRST EPSS. CVSS 3.1 base score shown where available.