CVE-2023-32199 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-281 vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher. A fix is available for github.com/rancher/rancher — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Rancher user retains access to clusters despite Global Role removal
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-32199.
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-2023-32199 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 376,715 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/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
Impact
A vulnerability has been identified within Rancher Manager, where after removing a custom GlobalRole that gives administrative access or the corresponding binding, the user still retains access to clusters. This only affects custom Global Roles that:
- Have a
*on*in*rule for resources - Have a
*on*rule for non-resource URLs
For example
apiVersion: management.cattle.io/v3
kind: GlobalRole
metadata:
name: custom-admin
rules:
- apiGroups:
- '*'
resources:
- '*'
verbs:
- '*'
- nonResourceURLs:
- '*'
verbs:
- '*'
Specifically:
- When a user is bound to a custom admin
GlobalRole, a correspondingClusterRoleBindingis created on all clusters that binds them to the cluster-adminClusterRole. - When such a
GlobalRoleor theGlobalRoleBinding(e.g., when the user is unassigned from this role in UI) is deleted, theClusterRoleBindingthat binds them to the cluster-admin ClusterRole stays behind.
This issue allows a user to continue having access to clusters after they have been unassigned from the custom admin global role or the role has been deleted.
Please consult the associated MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Account Access Removal for further information about this category of attack.
Patches
This vulnerability is addressed by removing the corresponding ClusterRoleBindings whenever the admin GlobalRole or its GlobalRoleBindings are deleted. Previously orphaned ClusterRoleBindings are marked with the annotation authz.cluster.cattle.io/admin-globalrole-missing=true and should be deleted manually.
Orphaned ClusterRoleBindings can be listed with:
kubectl get clusterrolebinding -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.metadata.annotations.authz\.cluster\.cattle\.io/admin-globalrole-missing=="true")]}{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}'
Patched versions of Rancher include releases v2.12.3, v2.11.7.
Complications with the restricted admin functionality prevented the patches from being included in v2.10 and v2.9.
Workarounds
If the deployment can't be upgraded to a fixed version, users are advised to manually identify the orphaned ClusterRoleBindings and remove them.
References
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Contact the SUSE Rancher Security team for security related inquiries.
- Open an issue in the Rancher repository.
- Verify with our support matrix and product support lifecycle.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | all versions | 0.0.0-20251014212116-7faa74a968c2go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v0.0.0-20251014212116-7faa74a968c2 |
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
Update github.com/rancher/rancher to 0.0.0-20251014212116-7faa74a968c2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-32199 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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-2023-32199 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-32199. 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-2023-32199 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-32199 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.