CVE-2021-25315 | salt-api unauthenticated remote code execution

CWE - CWE-287: Improper Authentication vulnerability in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP 3; openSUSE Tumbleweed allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code via salt without the need to specify valid credentials. This issue affects: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP 3 salt versions prior to 3002.2-3. openSUSE Tumbleweed salt version 3002.2-2.1 and prior versions. This issue affects: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP 3 salt versions prior to 3002.2-3. openSUSE Tumbleweed salt version 3002.2-2.1 and prior versions.

Published: 2021-03-03 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-25315 is rated High Risk (69.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.33%). EPSS rose +2.17% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-25315

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.16% 2.33% +2.17%
2 2025-03-30 0.49% 0.16% -0.33%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.49% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-25315

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-25315

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-25315

GHSA-pmj6-9f8c-8g2m · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — Saltstack Salt Unauthenticated Arbitrary Code Execution

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-25315

vendor priority summary link
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-25315
suse critical CVE-2021-25315 severity critical: SUSE including 370 source package names (1.4.2:python3-distro-1.5.0-3.5.1, 2.5.3-61.1:python3-distro-1.5.0-3.5.1, …), 780 product×package rows across 234 product lines (Container caasp/v4/389-ds, Container suse/389-ds, … (234 product lines)): Fixed 528, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 21. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-25315/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-25315 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (salt), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 7, ignored 4, not-affected 4, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-25315

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-25315

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
saltstack salt < 3002.2 cpe:2.3:a:saltstack:salt:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-25315

URL Tags
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1182382 Issue Tracking Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence