The vulnerabilities allow attackers to bypass the authentication and authorization controls that govern access to the Salt implementations. An attacker could use these vulnerabilities to remotely execute code with root privileges on the master and ultimately on all minions connected to the master. Salt is open source software from SaltStack that is used in infrastructure and security automation solutions. It is a popular tool used to maintain data centers and cloud environments.
Vulnerabilities Affect Salt Versions Which Basically Cover All Saltstack Implementations
However, experienced attackers can also perform more effective attacks. For example, they can install back doors through which they can explore the network and then proceed to the theft of confidential data or a variety of other attacks that are specific to their goals.
The security vulnerabilities affect Salt versions and older ones, which basically cover all Salt implementations that were in use before the SaltStack update released today. While attackers will find it more difficult to reach hosts hidden from the internet, they can still take advantage of the masters by accessing corporate networks in other ways.
Saltstack Has Published Additional Instructions On How To Secure Salt Implementations
The F-Secure researchers say that organizations should take advantage of Salt’s new update features to ensure future patches, as they become available. Companies with vulnerable should also use additional controls to restrict access to the salt master ports in standard configurations. On this basis, system administration can be treated like developer code, because the corresponding configuration files themselves can be maintained by classic version managers, which have already proven themselves in software development. In the next step, the configuration management software takes care that the previously defined state is executed on the server.
