{
  "id": "CVE-2020-16846",
  "url": "https://spydr.io/cve/CVE-2020-16846",
  "published": "2020-11-06T08:15:13.283Z",
  "modified": "2026-06-17T02:58:07.953Z",
  "score": 9.8,
  "severity": "critical",
  "cvss_version": "3.1",
  "vector": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
  "score_source": "NVD",
  "epss": 0.99585,
  "epss_percentile": 0.99946,
  "exploited": true,
  "kev": {
    "added": "2021-11-03",
    "due": "2022-05-03",
    "action": "Apply updates per vendor instructions.",
    "ransomware": "Unknown",
    "name": "SaltStack Salt Shell Injection Vulnerability",
    "notes": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16846"
  },
  "ssvc_exploitation": "active",
  "vendors": [
    "saltstack",
    "debian",
    "fedoraproject",
    "opensuse"
  ],
  "products": [
    "saltstack salt",
    "debian linux",
    "fedoraproject fedora",
    "opensuse leap"
  ],
  "cwes": [
    "CWE-78"
  ],
  "description": "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.",
  "status": "Analyzed",
  "score_type": "Primary",
  "scores": {
    "cvss_v40": null,
    "cvss_v31": 9.8,
    "cvss_v30": null
  },
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00029.html",
      "tags": [
        "Mailing List",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160039/SaltStack-Salt-REST-API-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.html",
      "tags": [
        "Exploit",
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/saltstack/salt/releases",
      "tags": [
        "Release Notes"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00007.html",
      "tags": [
        "Mailing List",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00000.html",
      "tags": [
        "Mailing List",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TPOGB2F6XUAIGFDTOCQDNB2VIXFXHWMA/",
      "tags": [
        "Release Notes"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-13",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4837",
      "tags": [
        "Mailing List",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.saltstack.com/blog/on-november-3-2020-saltstack-publicly-disclosed-three-new-cves/",
      "tags": [
        "Broken Link",
        "Vendor Advisory"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1379/",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1380/",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1381/",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1382/",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1383/",
      "tags": [
        "Third Party Advisory",
        "VDB Entry"
      ]
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-16846",
      "tags": [
        "US Government Resource"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "nvd_url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16846",
  "covered_in": [],
  "attribution": [
    {
      "source": "NVD",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov",
      "notice": "This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD."
    },
    {
      "source": "CISA KEV",
      "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog",
      "notice": "Known exploited vulnerabilities from the CISA KEV catalog."
    },
    {
      "source": "FIRST EPSS",
      "url": "https://www.first.org/epss",
      "notice": "Exploit prediction scores from FIRST EPSS."
    }
  ]
}