Rancher's Failure to delete orphaned role bindings does not revoke project level access from group based authenticationGHSA-28g7-896h-695v
HIGHGHSA-28g7-896h-695v is a high-severity (CVSS 8) CWE-284 vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher. A fix is available for github.com/rancher/rancher — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
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
Impact
This vulnerability only affects customers using group based authentication in Rancher versions up to and including 2.4.17, 2.5.11 and 2.6.2.
When removing a Project Role associated to a group from a project, the bindings that grant access to cluster scoped resources for those subjects do not get deleted. This happens due to an incomplete authorization logic check. A user who is a member of an affected group with authenticated access to Rancher could use this to access resources they should no longer have access to. The exposure level will depend on the original permission level granted to the affected project role.
Patches
Patched versions include releases 2.4.18, 2.5.12, 2.6.3 and later versions.
Workarounds
Limit access in Rancher to trusted users. There is not a direct mitigation besides upgrading to the patched Rancher versions.
References
Cluster and project roles documentation for Rancher 2.6, 2.5 and 2.4.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Reach out to SUSE Rancher Security team for security related inquiries.
- Open an issue in Rancher repository.
- Verify our support matrix and product support lifecycle.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | all versions | 2.4.18go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.4.18 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.12 | 2.5.12go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.5.12 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.6.0&&< 2.6.3 | 2.6.3go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.6.3 |
Affected Products
rancherrancherDetection & 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 2.4.18 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-28g7-896h-695v is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-28g7-896h-695v in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.