HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2021-22004
MEDIUM

CVE-2021-22004

CWE-362Published: September 8, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

6.4
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. The salt minion installer will accept and use a minion config file at C:\salt\conf if that file is in place before the installer is run. This allows for a malicious actor to subvert the proper behaviour of the given minion software.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2021-22004 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

Exploitation requires high privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 6.4.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges Req.High
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

Fedora1 product(s)
fedora
Microsoft1 product(s)
windows
saltstack1 product(s)
salt
Source: NVD CPE · 5 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
Exploit-DB
Offensive Security exploit database
GitHub PoC Search
Community PoC repositories
Rapid7 / Metasploit
Metasploit module search
PacketStorm
Security advisories & exploits
NVD Detail
Official NIST entry
MITRE CVE
CVE Program entry
External links open in a new tab. Always verify in a controlled environment before use.

Official Patches & Advisories

PATCHhttps://saltproject.io/security_announcements/salt-security-advisory-2021-sep-02/
PATCHhttps://saltproject.io/security_announcements/salt-security-advisory-2021-sep-02/

All References (8)

→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6BUWUF5VTENNP2ZYZBVFKPSUHLKLUBD5/
→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ACVT7M4YLZRLWWQ6SGRK3C6TOF4FXOXT/
→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MBAHHSGZLEJRCG4DX6J4RBWJAAWH55RQ/
→
https://saltproject.io/security_announcements/salt-security-advisory-2021-sep-02/Patch · Vendor Advisory
→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6BUWUF5VTENNP2ZYZBVFKPSUHLKLUBD5/
→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ACVT7M4YLZRLWWQ6SGRK3C6TOF4FXOXT/
→
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MBAHHSGZLEJRCG4DX6J4RBWJAAWH55RQ/
→
https://saltproject.io/security_announcements/salt-security-advisory-2021-sep-02/Patch · Vendor Advisory

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2021-22004
CVSS Score6.4 / 10
SeverityMEDIUM
WeaknessCWE-362
CISA KEVNo
Affected3 vendor(s)
PublishedSep 8, 2021

Related CVEs (CWE-362)

CVE-2015-8556
10.0
CVE-2008-6598
10.0
CVE-2010-1228
10.0
CVE-2014-0703
10.0
CVE-2020-1660
9.9
CVE-2021-41025
9.8

Recommended Actions

  • →Apply vendor patches immediately
  • →Monitor CVE-2021-22004 in threat intel feeds
  • →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.
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