VulnerabilityPublished 13 Jun 2025Updated 26 Feb 2026

CVE-2024-38824: VMware SALT · Path Traversal

Affects VMware SALTSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.6 Critical : upgrade to 3008.0.0 or 3007.0.0 as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.6Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 63% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3008.0.0, 3007.0.0

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade VMware SALT to 3008.0.0 or 3007.0.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
VMware SALT	Affected >=3006.0.0 <3007.0.0 >=3007.0.0 <3008.0.0	Fixed in 3007.0.0 3008.0.0

AI-suggested

Immediately monitor VMware SALT deployments for unusual file writes or unexpected changes in the master cache directory.
Restrict access to the SALT master server to trusted administrators and limit network exposure to reduce attack surface.
Employ file integrity monitoring solutions to detect unauthorized file modifications in critical directories.
Implement strict input validation and path sanitization controls where possible within SALT configurations or wrappers.
Use network segmentation to isolate SALT infrastructure from less trusted networks.
7. Conduct thorough audits of SALT master server logs to identify potential exploitation attempts. 8. Consider temporary compensating controls such as disabling or restricting the recv_file method if feasible without disrupting operations. 9. Educate system administrators about the vulnerability and encourage vigilance for suspicious activity. 10. Maintain up-to-date backups of configuration and critical data to enable recovery if compromise occurs.

Description

Directory traversal vulnerability in recv_file method allows arbitrary files to be written to the master cache directory.

Impact

The vulnerability allows attackers to write arbitrary files to the master cache directory, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution, privilege escalation, or persistent compromise of the VMware SALT master server. This can result in full system compromise, data breaches, and manipulation of configuration management processes. Given VMware SALT's role in automating and managing infrastructure, exploitation could cascade to multiple systems, amplifying the impact. Confidentiality is severely impacted as attackers can inject malicious files or overwrite sensitive data. Integrity is compromised due to unauthorized modifications. Although availability is not directly affected, the overall operational security posture is degraded, increasing the risk of further attacks. Organizations relying on SALT for critical infrastructure automation face heightened risks of disruption and espionage. The vulnerability's network accessibility and lack of user interaction required make it highly exploitable in hostile environments.

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #6OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 20:13 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-22

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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