CVE Intelligence
CISA KEV Critical Injection exploit reference

CVE-2020-16846 — SaltStack Salt Shell Injection Vulnerability

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.

Published Nov 6, 2020 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: mitre

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

CISA KEV · Nov 3, 2021 Detection templates (Nuclei) · 1Metasploit modules · 1
How the score was calculated
  • Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
  • Public exploit/PoC (nuclei, metasploit)+16
  • EPSS 99.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
  • Technical severity (critical)+10
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Confirmed
CISA KEV, listed Nov 3, 2021
EPSS FIRST
99.59%
ahead of 100% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Debian
Debian Linux and 3 more
CVSS base
9.8
Critical · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Active
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2015.8.13 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2016.3.8 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2016.11.10 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2017.7.8 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2018.3.5 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 2019.2.6 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 3000.4 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 3001.2 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)
  • Pip Salt: fixed in version 3002.1 — github.com (GitHub Security Advisories)

CISA required action CISA

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal deadline: May 3, 2022 — passed 1626 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Opensuse Leap…).
  2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
  3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  4. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  5. EPSS ahead of 100% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (injection), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Debian Debian Linux version 9.0version 10.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Fedoraproject Fedora version 31 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Opensuse Leap version 15.1 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Saltstack Salt ≥ 2018.2.0 and < 2018.3.5version 3002version 3001≥ 3000.0 and < 3000.3≥ 2019.2.0 and < 2019.2.5≥ 2017.7.5 and < 2017.7.8≥ 2017.5.0 and < 2017.7.4≥ 2016.11.4 and < 2016.11.6
and 7 more ≥ 2016.11.0 and < 2016.11.3≥ 2016.3.7 and < 2016.3.8≥ 2016.3.5 and < 2016.3.6≥ 2016.3.0 and < 2016.3.4≥ 2015.8.11 and < 2015.8.13< 2015.8.10≥ 2016.11.7 and < 2016.11.10
Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Pip Salt ≥ 3002 and < 3002.1≥ 3001 and < 3001.2≥ 3000.0 and < 3000.4≥ 2019.2.0 and < 2019.2.6≥ 2018.2.0 and < 2018.3.5≥ 2017.5.0 and < 2017.7.8≥ 2016.11.0 and < 2016.11.10≥ 2016.3.0 and < 2016.3.8
and 1 more < 2015.8.13
Vulnerable GitHub Security Advisories

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.9 5.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
7.5 CVSS 2.0 High 10.0 6.4 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-78 · OS Command Injection

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

Listed
Nov 3, 2021
Federal deadline
May 3, 2022
passed 1626 day(s) ago
Ransomware use
Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Detection templates (Nuclei)
Metasploit modules

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 99.59%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Look for parameters with command/query metacharacters and unexpected child processes of the service.
  • Hunt retroactively in logs from before Nov 3, 2021 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSapplication logsendpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • Affected products added · pip/salt
    Oct 13, 2026 · GitHub Security Advisories
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Affected products added · saltstack/salt, debian/debian linux, fedoraproject/fedora, opensuse/leap
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 9.8
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Added to CISA KEV (detected)
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • 2021
  • Added to CISA KEV catalog
    Nov 2, 2021 · CISA
  • 2020
  • CVE published
    Nov 6, 2020 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

30 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Debian
every CVE for this vendor
2021-11
what else CISA listed that month
Injection
same class
CWE-78
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-12996 A use-after-free in OpenVPN 2.6.0 through 2.6.20 and 2.7_alpha1 through 2.7.4 allows remote... Jul 30, 2026
  • CVE-2026-56968 Use of Uninitialized Resource in Gnu Sasl Jun 23, 2026
  • CVE-2026-54231 Abrt: unsanitized systemd journal content written to dump directory files enables content injection Jun 13, 2026
  • CVE-2026-54230 Abrt: event handler scripts follow symlinks when writing output files, allowing arbitrary file overwrites Jun 13, 2026
  • CVE-2026-49975 Apache HTTP Server: mod_http2 denial of service Jun 8, 2026
  • CVE-2026-9256 NGINX ngx_http_rewrite_module vulnerability May 22, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2020-16846 is "SaltStack Salt Shell Injection Vulnerability", rated Critical. It affects Debian Linux (Debian); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 9.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 99.59% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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