CVE-2024-38823 in SALT
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2025
Salt's request server is vulnerable to replay attacks when not using a TLS encrypted transport.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/24/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-38823 affects Salt's request server implementation, specifically exposing it to replay attack vectors when communication occurs over unencrypted transport mechanisms. This represents a critical security weakness that undermines the integrity and authenticity of distributed system communications. Salt is a widely adopted configuration management and automation platform that relies on secure communication channels between master and minion components, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for enterprise environments that depend on Salt for critical infrastructure management.
The technical flaw stems from the server's insufficient validation of request sequences and lack of proper message authentication mechanisms when TLS encryption is not enforced. Attackers can exploit this weakness by capturing legitimate requests transmitted over plaintext channels and resubmitting them at a later time to achieve unauthorized actions or system compromise. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-347, which addresses improper verification of cryptographic signatures, and falls under the broader category of weak authentication mechanisms. The absence of replay protection measures such as nonce validation, timestamp checks, or sequence number verification creates an exploitable gap in the security posture of Salt deployments.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable attackers to perform arbitrary operations within the Salt ecosystem. When minions communicate with masters over unencrypted channels, captured requests can be replayed to execute commands, modify configurations, or manipulate system states. This threat model aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers credential harvesting through various attack vectors, and T1071, which addresses application layer protocol usage. Organizations using Salt in production environments face potential compromise of their entire automation infrastructure, as attackers can leverage these replay attacks to escalate privileges and gain persistent access to critical systems.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize enforcing mandatory TLS encryption for all Salt communications, implementing proper certificate validation mechanisms, and deploying network segmentation controls to prevent unauthorized access to Salt components. Organizations must ensure that all Salt master and minion configurations enforce encrypted transport protocols and disable plaintext communication channels. Additional protective measures include implementing robust authentication mechanisms, regularly monitoring for suspicious communication patterns, and establishing automated alerting for potential replay attack indicators. The vulnerability underscores the importance of following security best practices such as those outlined in NIST SP 800-53 and ISO 27001, which emphasize the need for secure communication channels and proper authentication controls in distributed systems.