CVE-2024-52280 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.7) Information Exposure vulnerability in github.com/rancher/steve. A fix is available for github.com/rancher/steve — see the affected versions and patch details below.
github.com/rancher/steve's users can issue watch commands for arbitrary resources
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-2024-52280.
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-2024-52280 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 377,636 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/steveReal-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 discovered in Steve API (Kubernetes API Translator) in which users can watch resources they are not allowed to access, when they have at least some generic permissions on the type. For example, a user who can get a single secret in a single namespace can get all secrets in every namespace.
During a watch request for a single ID, the following occurs:
- In the case of a watch request for a single resource, Steve API will return a partition with the requested resource in it. In other cases, it will check the user's access when constructing partitions.
- When a watch request for a single resource is issued, instead of using a client which impersonates the user making the request, Steve API will use the admin client, which can read all resources.
This allows any requester to see the contents of any object such as secret keys, signing certificates, API tokens.
Please consult the associated MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Valid Accounts and MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Container and Resource Discovery for further information about this category of attack.
Patches
To address this issue, the fix introduces a change in the behavior of the Steve API.
When issuing a watch request with an ID specified, the requester's permissions are now correctly honoured. This will deny events for objects the requester cannot actually access. Previously these events were returned unconditionally, allowing any requester to see the contents of any object.
Patched versions include the following commits:
Workarounds
There are no workarounds for this issue. Users are recommended to upgrade, as soon as possible, to a version of Steve API/Rancher Manager which contains the fixes.
References
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Reach out to 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/steve | all versions | 0.0.0-20241029132712-2175e090fe4bgo get github.com/rancher/steve@v0.0.0-20241029132712-2175e090fe4b |
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/steve, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/rancher/steve to 0.0.0-20241029132712-2175e090fe4b or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-52280 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-2024-52280 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-52280. 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-2024-52280 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-52280 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.