CVE-2021-25281

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 72.9%, top 1% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
Trending — 3 sources updated this weekWeaponized
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 73%
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS: 73%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. salt-api does not honor eauth credentials for the wheel_async client. Thus, an attacker can remotely run any wheel modules on the master.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
88(Track)
EG Risk 88/100SSVC: Track

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%
Exploitation73% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS
99.4%
KEV
Not listed

Published

February 27, 2021

Last Modified

November 21, 2024

Advisory Details (9)

Auto-updated Jul 9, 2026
Patch available.
generic

[SECURITY] [DSA 5011-1] salt security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5011
generic

Salt: Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 202310-22) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202310-22
generic

Salt: Multiple vulnerabilities (GLSA 202103-01) — Gentoo security

https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202103-01
generic

[SECURITY] Fedora 32 Update: salt-3001.6-1.fc32 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/YOGNT2XWPOYV7YT75DN7PS4GIYWFKOK5/
generic

[SECURITY] Fedora 34 Update: salt-3002.5-1.fc34 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FUGLOJ6NXLCIFRD2JTXBYQEMAEF2B6XH/
generic

[SECURITY] Fedora 33 Update: salt-3002.5-1.fc33 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/7GRVZ5WAEI3XFN2BDTL6DDXFS5HYSDVB/
generic Patch Available

[SECURITY] [DLA 2815-1] salt security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00009.html
generic

Releases · saltstack/salt · GitHub

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

Packet Storm

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162058/SaltStack-Salt-API-Unauthenticated-Remote-Command-Execution.html

Patch Availability(1)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntusalt-syndic (2015.8.8+ds-1ubuntu0.1+esm2) @ xenial2026-05-26ubuntu

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)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
salt0.10.0 ... 3002.4 (159 versions)3002.5—

Weakness Classification(1)

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

All Vendor Advisories

(1)

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 9× in last 7d / 35× 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.

  1. 2026-07-23 01:58 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-22 22:45 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-07-20 17:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-19 00:59 UTCOSV refresh
  10. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-15 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-13 06:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-12 05:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-07-09 19:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-02 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 34 more
  1. 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-01 08:18 UTCOSV refresh
  3. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-21 14:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-13 13:13 UTCOSV refresh
  24. 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-05-26 20:18 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-05-26 20:18 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(3 references)

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

  • GitHub PoCImmersive-Labs-Sec/CVE-2021-25281
    First seen Feb 26, 2021

    Chaining CVE-2021-25281 and CVE-2021-25282 to exploit a SaltStack

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/linux/http/saltstack_salt_wheel_async_rce✓ verified
    First seen Feb 25, 2021

    SaltStack Salt API Unauthenticated RCE through wheel_async client

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleihttp/cves/2021/CVE-2021-25281.yaml
    First seen Jan 1, 2021

    SaltStack Salt <3002.5 - Auth Bypass

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2021-25281?
CVE-2021-25281 is a critical vulnerability published on February 27, 2021. An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. salt-api does not honor eauth credentials for the wheel_async client. Thus, an attacker can remotely run any wheel modules on the master.
When was CVE-2021-25281 disclosed?
CVE-2021-25281 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on February 27, 2021, with the most recent update on November 21, 2024. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2021-25281 actively exploited?
CVE-2021-25281 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 99.4% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-25281?
CVE-2021-25281 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2021-25281?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2021-25281, 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-2021-25281

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