How severe is CVE-2020-11651?

CVE-2020-11651 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2020-11651 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2020-11651 is on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added on 2021-11-03, which means active exploitation has been confirmed. It should be prioritised for remediation.

What products are affected by CVE-2020-11651?

CVE-2020-11651 primarily affects Saltstack Salt. In total, 9 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2020-11651?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Because this CVE is known to be actively exploited, treat remediation as urgent — CISA KEV typically sets a short remediation deadline.

Does CVE-2020-11651 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?

Yes. CVE-2020-11651 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2020-0171. It is also flagged as exploited in the EUVD (since 2021-11-03).

When was CVE-2020-11651 published?

CVE-2020-11651 was published on 2020-04-30 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2020-11651

CVE-2020-11651 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Saltstack Salt with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8. It is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming it has been exploited in the wild (added 2021-11-03).

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.8)
CVSS v2: 7.5
EPSS exploit prediction: 96% (100th percentile)
Actively exploited: Yes — listed in CISA KEV (added 2021-11-03)
EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2020-0171
EU exploitation: Flagged exploited in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (since 2021-11-03)
Affected product: Saltstack Salt
Published: 2020-04-30
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

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.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-11651?: 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.
How severe is CVE-2020-11651?: CVE-2020-11651 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2020-11651 being actively exploited?: Yes. CVE-2020-11651 is on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added on 2021-11-03, which means active exploitation has been confirmed. It should be prioritised for remediation.
What products are affected by CVE-2020-11651?: CVE-2020-11651 primarily affects Saltstack Salt. In total, 9 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2020-11651?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Because this CVE is known to be actively exploited, treat remediation as urgent — CISA KEV typically sets a short remediation deadline.
Does CVE-2020-11651 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?: Yes. CVE-2020-11651 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2020-0171. It is also flagged as exploited in the EUVD (since 2021-11-03).
When was CVE-2020-11651 published?: CVE-2020-11651 was published on 2020-04-30 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (9)

cpe:2.3:a:saltstack:salt:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:esm:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:application_remote_collector:7.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:vmware:application_remote_collector:8.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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