CVE-2020-16846: in the CISA KEV catalogue
SaltStack Salt Shell Injection Vulnerability. CISA added CVE-2020-16846 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03 with a default due date of 2022-05-03. Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown. Forensic triage flag: No.
SaltStack Salt allows an unauthenticated user with network access to the Salt API to use shell injections to run code on the Salt API using the SSH client. This vulnerability affects any users running the Salt API. (CISA description)
- Vendor / product
- SaltStack Salt
- CWE
- CWE-78
- CISA required action
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- EPSS
- 100%, percentile 99 (scored 2026-11-03)
EPSS puts nearly every time in 100 odds (100%) on exploitation activity being observed in the next 30 days. Its score is higher than or equal to that of 99% of scored CVEs. This is a model estimate about exploitation anywhere, not about your environment.
Vendor and reference links (from CISA)
Your own deadline under CISA BOD 26-04 depends on exposure, automatability and technical impact: work it out with the BOD 26-04 calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is CVE-2020-16846 in the CISA KEV catalogue?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-16846 (SaltStack Salt Shell Injection Vulnerability) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03. CISA's default due date for it is 2022-05-03.
Is CVE-2020-16846 used in ransomware attacks?
CISA marks known ransomware campaign use as Unknown for CVE-2020-16846. That means CISA lacks confirmation, not that ransomware groups do not use it.
What should I do about CVE-2020-16846?
CISA's required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Sources
- CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (accessed 2026-11-03)
- FIRST, Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) (EPSS by FIRST; scores generated by Empirical Security)
- NVD record for CVE-2020-16846