# CVE-2021-21996: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere in salt

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2021-21996-exposure-of-resource-to-wrong-sphere-in-salt  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2021-09-08  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2021-21996 · Severity: low · CVSS 3.1 · Published 2021-09-08

An issue was discovered in SaltStack Salt before 3003.3. A user who has control of the source, and source_hash URLs can gain full file system access as root on a salt minion.

Technologies: [salt (PyPI)](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/pypi-salt). Vendors: [PyPI](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/pypi).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2021-21996 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2021-21996 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2021-21996?** Low severity, with a CVSS score of 3.1, published 8 September 2021.

**Which products and versions are affected?** salt (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3003.3.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2021-21996?** Yes. salt (PyPI): upgrade to 3003.3 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**Am I affected by CVE-2021-21996?** Check whether you run salt (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## How to fix

- salt (PyPI): upgrade to 3003.3 or later

  ```sh
  pip install "salt>=3003.3"
  ```


## Affected products

- salt (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3003.3

## Identifiers

- CVE-2021-21996
- GHSA-pf7h-h2wq-m7pg
- PYSEC-2021-318

## Related threats

- [PYSEC-2026-1894 - Salt junos Module Vulnerable to Code Injection via Specially Crafted YAML Payload](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-62348-salt-junos-module-vulnerable-to-code-injection-via-specially)
- [PYSEC-2026-1902 - Salt Authentication Protocol Version Downgrade Allows Minion Impersonation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-62349-salt-authentication-protocol-version-downgrade-allows-minion)
- [PYSEC-2026-1896 - Salt's worker process vulnerable to denial of service through file read operation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-22242-salt-s-worker-process-vulnerable-to-denial-of-service-through)
- [PYSEC-2026-1895 - Salt's file contents overwrite the VirtKey class](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-22241-salt-s-file-contents-overwrite-the-virtkey-class)
- [PYSEC-2026-1898 - Salt's on demand pillar functionality vulnerable to arbitrary command injections](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-22237-salt-s-on-demand-pillar-functionality-vulnerable-to-arbitrary)