CVE-2020-11651

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.8 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 97%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · Metasploit · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2. The salt-master process ClearFuncs class does not properly validate method calls. This allows a remote user to access some methods without authentication. These methods can be used to retrieve user tokens from the salt master and/or run arbitrary commands on salt minions.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(high)
EG Risk
99(Act)
EG Risk 99/100SSVC: Act

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact.
EPSS PROB
97%
EPSS %ILE
100%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

April 30, 2020

Last Modified

November 7, 2025

Advisory Details (6)

Auto-updated Sep 17, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

SaltStack FrameWork Vulnerabilities Affecting Cisco Products

https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-salt-2vx545AG
generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 2223-1] salt security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/05/msg00027.html
generic

salt/doc/topics/releases/3000.2.rst at v3000.2_docs · saltstack/salt · GitHub

https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/v3000.2_docs/doc/topics/releases/3000.2.rst
generic

Support Content Notification - Support Portal - Broadcom support portal

http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2020-0009.html
generic

Packet Storm Security

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157678/SaltStack-Salt-Master-Minion-Unauthenticated-Remote-Code-Execution.html
generic

Locked Out | Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157560/Saltstack-3000.1-Remote-Code-Execution.html

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntusalt-syndic (0.17.5+ds-1ubuntu0.1~esm2) @ trusty2026-09-19ubuntu
ubuntusalt-syndic (2015.8.8+ds-1ubuntu0.1) @ xenial2026-09-19ubuntu

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

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:10(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
salt2018.3.4+dfsg1-62018.3.4+dfsg1-6+deb10u1—
Debian:8(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
salt2014.1.13+ds-32014.1.13+ds-3+deb8u1—
Debian:9(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
salt2016.11.2+ds-1, 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u1, 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u2, 2016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u32016.11.2+ds-1+deb9u4—
PyPI(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
salt0.10.0 ... 3000.1 (160 versions)3000.2—

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 51× in last 7d / 186× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 625 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-19 19:28 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-09-19 15:37 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-09-19 11:44 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-09-19 07:53 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-09-19 04:02 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-09-19 00:11 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-09-18 20:19 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-09-18 20:19 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-09-18 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-18 19:20 UTCCISA KEV update
  11. 2026-09-18 16:28 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-09-18 14:15 UTCCISA KEV update
  13. 2026-09-18 12:37 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-09-18 08:46 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-09-18 04:55 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-09-18 01:04 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-09-17 21:13 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-09-17 13:02 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-09-17 09:10 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-09-17 05:19 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-09-17 01:28 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-09-16 17:45 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-09-16 17:45 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-09-16 14:10 UTCCISA KEV update
  25. 2026-09-16 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-16 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-16 13:54 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-09-16 10:03 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-09-16 06:11 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-09-16 06:11 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-09-16 02:20 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-09-15 22:28 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-09-15 18:37 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-09-15 14:46 UTCVendor advisory
  10. 2026-09-15 07:01 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-09-15 03:10 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-09-14 23:17 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-09-14 19:26 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-09-14 19:24 UTCCISA KEV update
  15. 2026-09-14 15:35 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-09-14 11:43 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-09-14 07:52 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-09-14 04:01 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-09-14 00:10 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-09-13 20:19 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-09-13 16:28 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-09-13 12:36 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-09-13 08:44 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-09-13 04:53 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-09-13 01:02 UTCVendor advisory
  26. 2026-09-12 21:11 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-09-12 17:20 UTCVendor advisory
  28. 2026-09-12 13:29 UTCVendor advisory
  29. 2026-09-12 09:38 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-09-12 05:47 UTCVendor advisory
  31. 2026-09-12 01:56 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-09-11 22:04 UTCVendor advisory
  33. 2026-09-11 18:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  34. 2026-09-11 18:13 UTCVendor advisory
  35. 2026-09-11 14:22 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-09-11 06:37 UTCVendor advisory
  37. 2026-09-11 02:46 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-09-10 22:55 UTCVendor advisory
  39. 2026-09-10 19:28 UTCCISA KEV update
  40. 2026-09-10 15:12 UTCVendor advisory
  41. 2026-09-10 11:20 UTCEG score recompute
  42. 2026-09-10 11:20 UTCVendor advisory
  43. 2026-09-10 07:28 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-09-10 03:37 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-09-09 23:46 UTCVendor advisory
  46. 2026-09-09 19:55 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-09-09 19:08 UTCCISA KEV update
  48. 2026-09-09 16:03 UTCVendor advisory
  49. 2026-09-09 12:12 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-09-09 08:20 UTCVendor advisory
  51. 2026-09-09 04:29 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-09-09 00:38 UTCVendor advisory
  53. 2026-09-08 18:54 UTCCISA KEV update
  54. 2026-09-08 09:01 UTCVendor advisory
  55. 2026-09-08 01:13 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-09-07 21:22 UTCVendor advisory
  57. 2026-09-07 17:29 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-09-07 05:52 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-09-07 02:00 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-09-06 22:09 UTCVendor advisory
  61. 2026-09-06 18:17 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-09-06 14:25 UTCEG score recompute
  63. 2026-09-06 14:25 UTCVendor advisory
  64. 2026-09-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-09-06 10:34 UTCVendor advisory
  66. 2026-09-06 06:43 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-09-06 02:52 UTCVendor advisory
  68. 2026-09-05 23:01 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-09-05 19:09 UTCEG score recompute
  70. 2026-09-05 19:09 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-09-05 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-09-05 07:35 UTCVendor advisory
  73. 2026-09-05 03:44 UTCVendor advisory
  74. 2026-09-04 23:53 UTCVendor advisory
  75. 2026-09-04 17:38 UTCCISA KEV update

Publicly available exploits

(10 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (9 GitHub PoCs) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoClovelyjuice/cve-2020-11651-exp-plus
    First seen May 7, 2020
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCssrsec/CVE-2020-11651-CVE-2020-11652-EXP
    First seen May 7, 2020

    CVE-2020-11651&&CVE-2020-11652 EXP

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-48421
    First seen May 5, 2020

    Saltstack 3000.1 - Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoC0xc0d/CVE-2020-11651
    First seen May 4, 2020

    CVE-2020-11651: Proof of Concept

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCjasperla/CVE-2020-11651-poc
    First seen May 4, 2020

    PoC exploit of CVE-2020-11651 and CVE-2020-11652

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCdozernz/cve-2020-11651
    First seen May 4, 2020
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCkevthehermit/CVE-2020-11651
    First seen May 4, 2020

    PoC for CVE-2020-11651

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCbravery9/SaltStack-Exp
    First seen May 4, 2020

    CVE-2020-11651&&CVE-2020-11652 EXP

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCchef-cft/salt-vulnerabilities
    First seen May 1, 2020

    Checks for CVE-2020-11651 and CVE-2020-11652

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCrossengeorgiev/salt-security-backports
    First seen May 1, 2020

    Salt security backports for CVE-2020-11651 & CVE-2020-11652

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-11651?
CVE-2020-11651 is a critical vulnerability published on April 30, 2020. An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 2019.2.4 and 3000 before 3000.2. The salt-master process ClearFuncs class does not properly validate method calls. This allows a remote user to access some methods without authentication. These methods can be used to retrieve user tokens from the…
When was CVE-2020-11651 disclosed?
CVE-2020-11651 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on April 30, 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-2020-11651 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-11651 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-2020-11651?
CVE-2020-11651 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-11651?
CVE-2020-11651 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-2020-11651?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-11651, 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-2020-11651

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