CVE-2020-16846

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild

9.8

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 v3: 9.8
EG Score: 9.8(high)
EPSS: 100.0%
KEV: ⚠ Exploited

Published

November 6, 2020

Last Modified

November 7, 2025

Advisory Details (8)

Auto-updated Jun 1, 2026

Patch available.

generic

ZDI-20-1379 | Zero Day Initiative

https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1379/

generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 4837-1] salt security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4837

generic

Salt: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 202011-13) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-13

generic

[SECURITY] Fedora 31 Update: salt-3001.3-1.fc31 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TPOGB2F6XUAIGFDTOCQDNB2VIXFXHWMA/

generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-2] salt regression update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00000.html

generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-1] salt security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00007.html

generic

Releases · saltstack/salt · GitHub

https://github.com/saltstack/salt/releases

generic

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160039/SaltStack-Salt-REST-API-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.html

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / Ecosystem	Fixed in / Patch	Released	Source
ubuntu	salt-syndic (0.17.5+ds-1ubuntu0.1~esm4) @ trusty	2026-06-04	ubuntu
ubuntu	salt-syndic (2015.8.8+ds-1ubuntu0.1+esm2) @ xenial	2026-06-04	ubuntu

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)

PyPI(1)

Package	Vulnerable range	Fixed in	Dependents
salt	0.8.7 ... 3000.2 (144 versions)	3000.3	—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

CWE-78OS Command Injection

All Vendor Advisories

(2)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 20× in last 7d / 20× in last 30d)

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-06-04 01:52 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-04 01:52 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-03 21:32 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 21:32 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-03 19:09 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-06-03 17:12 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 17:12 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-03 12:51 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 12:51 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-03 08:31 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 08:31 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-03 04:10 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-03 04:10 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-02 23:50 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 23:50 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-02 19:29 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 18:32 UTCkev_newly_listed
2026-06-02 15:08 UTCEG score recompute
2026-06-02 15:08 UTCVendor advisory
2026-06-02 10:48 UTCEG score recompute

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

Metasploitexploit/linux/http/saltstack_salt_api_cmd_exec✓ verified
First seen Nov 3, 2020
SaltStack Salt REST API Arbitrary Command Execution
Open source ↗
Nucleihttp/cves/2020/CVE-2020-16846.yaml
First seen Jan 1, 2020
SaltStack <=3002 - Shell Injection
Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-16846?

CVE-2020-16846 is a critical vulnerability published on November 6, 2020. 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.

When was CVE-2020-16846 disclosed?

CVE-2020-16846 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on November 6, 2020, with the most recent update on November 7, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2020-16846 actively exploited?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-16846 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting SaltStack Salt. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-16846?

CVE-2020-16846 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).

Which products are affected by CVE-2020-16846?

CVE-2020-16846 affects SaltStack Salt. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.

How do I remediate CVE-2020-16846?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-16846, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2020-16846

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CVE-2020-16846

Published

Last Modified

Advisory Details (8)

ZDI-20-1379 | Zero Day Initiative

[SECURITY] [DSA 4837-1] salt security update

Salt: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 202011-13) — Gentoo security

[SECURITY] Fedora 31 Update: salt-3001.3-1.fc31 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-2] salt regression update

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-1] salt security update

Releases · saltstack/salt · GitHub

Packet Storm

Patch Availability(2)

Affected Packages

Weakness Classification(1)

All Vendor Advisories

Data Freshness Timeline

Publicly available exploits

Frequently asked(6)

Dependency Blast Radius

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-16846?

Same vendor

Same CWE

CVE-2020-16846

📅 Published

🔄 Last Modified

📋 Advisory Details (8)

ZDI-20-1379 | Zero Day Initiative

[SECURITY] [DSA 4837-1] salt security update

Salt: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 202011-13) — Gentoo security

[SECURITY] Fedora 31 Update: salt-3001.3-1.fc31 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-2] salt regression update

[SECURITY] [DLA 2480-1] salt security update

Releases · saltstack/salt · GitHub

Packet Storm

Patch Availability(2)

Affected Packages

Weakness Classification(1)

All Vendor Advisories

Data Freshness Timeline

Publicly available exploits

❓ Frequently asked(6)

Dependency Blast Radius

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2020-16846?

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Published

Last Modified

Advisory Details (8)

Frequently asked(6)

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