[BUG] Minions do not properly report SLS rendering failure (WAS: state.sls_exists broken on Debian)

[nf-brentsaner]

Description
On both Debian 11 and 12 minions, state.sls_exists is broken. This same issue does not occur on other minions (e.g. AlmaLinux 8.x/9.x).

Setup
Please be as specific as possible and give set-up details.

• on-prem machine
• VM (Virtualbox, KVM, etc. please specify)
• VM running on a cloud service, please be explicit and add details
• container (Kubernetes, Docker, containerd, etc. please specify)
• or a combination, please be explicit
• jails if it is FreeBSD
• classic packaging
• onedir packaging
• used bootstrap to install

Steps to Reproduce the behavior
e.g.:

example top.sls:

base:
  '*':
    - foo.bar.baz

salt://foo/bar/baz/init.sls:

{% set incl_sls = sls + '.init_' +  grains['kernel'].lower() %}

{% if salt['state.sls_exists'](incl_sls) %}
include:
  - {{ incl_sls }}
{%- else %}
Unsupported Include:
  test.nop:
    - name: The kernel "{{ grains['kernel'].lower() }}" could not include "{{ incl_sls }}".
{% endif %}

salt://foo/bar/baz/init_linux.sls:

Successfully Included:
  test.nop:
    - name: 'The include worked.'

Debian, both 11 and 12, will report `The kernel "linux" could not include "foo.bar.baz.init_linux". Despite the SLS existing, even in the cache on the minion.

AlmaLinux 8 and 9 will appropriately apply the Successfully Included state.

Expected behavior
Debian to properly know that the SLS does, indeed, exist.

Screenshots
N/A

Versions Report

salt --versions-report

(Provided by running salt --versions-report. Please also mention any differences in master/minion versions.)

(Master runs 3007.1 via onedir bootstrap on AlmaLinux 9.4. The below is a minion experiencing the bug.)

Salt Version:
          Salt: 3007.1

Python Version:
        Python: 3.10.14 (main, Apr  3 2024, 21:30:09) [GCC 11.2.0]

Dependency Versions:
          cffi: 1.16.0
      cherrypy: 18.8.0
      dateutil: 2.8.2
     docker-py: Not Installed
         gitdb: Not Installed
     gitpython: Not Installed
        Jinja2: 3.1.4
       libgit2: Not Installed
  looseversion: 1.3.0
      M2Crypto: Not Installed
          Mako: Not Installed
       msgpack: 1.0.7
  msgpack-pure: Not Installed
  mysql-python: Not Installed
     packaging: 23.1
     pycparser: 2.21
      pycrypto: Not Installed
  pycryptodome: 3.19.1
        pygit2: Not Installed
  python-gnupg: 0.5.2
        PyYAML: 6.0.1
         PyZMQ: 25.1.2
        relenv: 0.16.0
         smmap: Not Installed
       timelib: 0.3.0
       Tornado: 6.3.3
           ZMQ: 4.3.4

Salt Package Information:
  Package Type: onedir

System Versions:
          dist: debian 12.7 bookworm
        locale: utf-8
       machine: x86_64
       release: 6.1.0-13-amd64
        system: Linux
       version: Debian GNU/Linux 12.7 bookworm

Additional context
N/A

[nf-brentsaner]

Actually, changing the bug- It was falsely reporting the SLS doesn't exist because of a Debian-specific rendering issue within that SLS.

Salt minions should do a better job of reporting failure in SLS rendering vs. just acting as if they don't exist. This behavior was much more reliable/predictable in pre-3006.