CVE-2019-11202 — rancher
CRITICALCVE-2019-11202 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Improper Authentication vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher. A fix is available for github.com/rancher/rancher — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Rancher Recreates Default User With Known Password Despite Deletion
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2019-11202 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,238 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/rancher/rancher🐹github.com/rancher/rancher🐹github.com/rancher/rancherReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
An issue was discovered that affects the following versions of Rancher: v2.0.0 through v2.0.13, v2.1.0 through v2.1.8, and v2.2.0 through 2.2.1. When Rancher starts for the first time, it creates a default admin user with a well-known password. After initial setup, the Rancher administrator may choose to delete this default admin user. If Rancher is restarted, the default admin user will be recreated with the well-known default password. An attacker could exploit this by logging in with the default admin credentials. This can be mitigated by deactivating the default admin user rather than completing deleting them.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.0.0 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.1.0 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.2 | 2.2.2go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.2.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/rancher/rancher, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
No patched version of github.com/rancher/rancher has shipped for CVE-2019-11202 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2019-11202 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2019-11202. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-11202 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2019-11202 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.