CVE-2020-16846

Exploitation

Exploited in the wild. Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03. Federal remediation due 2022-05-03.

SSVC decision

• ExploitationactiveCISA reports credible evidence of active exploitation.
• AutomatableyesAn attacker can reliably automate reconnaissance through exploitation, so this scales.
• Technical ImpacttotalSuccessful exploitation gives total control of the vulnerable component.

CISA publishes the decision points, not a final SSVC decision. The decision also depends on mission and well-being impact, which is a property of your deployment rather than of the vulnerability.

EPSS probability

99.59% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.

EPSS percentile

Ranks above 99.9% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.

NVD base score

9.8 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.

NVD CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD analysis status

Analyzed. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.

Red Hat severity

Important. Red Hat's rating for its own products, not a CVSS rating.

Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.

Published

2020-11-06 07:27Z5 YR AGO

Last updated

2025-10-21 23:35Z10 MO AGO

Reserved

2020-08-04

Assigning CNA

mitre

Record state

PUBLISHED

Severity

Critical (CVSS 9.8)

CNA CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses

• CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')Base

Data version

5.1

Document digest

98049020e3ef1c83e75624f8ada3e5b344a22e5d858e05712419b048a3c96f56

• github.comhttps://github.com/saltstack/salt/releasesx_refsource_MISC
• www.saltstack.comhttps://www.saltstack.com/blog/on-november-3-2020-saltstack-publicly-disclosed-three-new-cves/x_refsource_CONFIRM
• lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2020-9e040bd6ddhttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TPOGB2F6XUAIGFDTOCQDNB2VIXFXHWMA/vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
• lists.opensuse.orgopenSUSE-SU-2020:1868http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-11/msg00029.htmlvendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSE
• security.gentoo.orgGLSA-202011-13https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-13vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160039/SaltStack-Salt-REST-API-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• www.zerodayinitiative.comhttps://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1381/x_refsource_MISC
• www.zerodayinitiative.comhttps://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1383/x_refsource_MISC
• www.zerodayinitiative.comhttps://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1380/x_refsource_MISC
• www.zerodayinitiative.comhttps://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1379/x_refsource_MISC
• www.zerodayinitiative.comhttps://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1382/x_refsource_MISC
• lists.debian.org[debian-lts-announce] 20201204 [SECURITY] [DLA 2480-1] salt security updatehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/12/msg00007.htmlmailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
• www.debian.orgDSA-4837https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4837vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
• lists.debian.org[debian-lts-announce] 20220103 [SECURITY] [DLA 2480-2] salt regression updatehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00000.htmlmailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
• www.cisa.govhttps://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-16846government-resource