GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4
CRITICALRancher allows privilege escalation in Windows nodes due to Insecure Access Control Lists
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.
Blast Radius
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
A vulnerability has been identified whereby Rancher Manager deployments containing Windows nodes have weak Access Control Lists (ACL), allowing BUILTIN\Users or NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users to view or edit sensitive files which could lead to privilege escalation.
The affected files include binaries, scripts, configuration and log files:
C:\etc\rancher\wins\config
C:\var\lib\rancher\agent\rancher2_connection_info.json
C:\etc\rancher\rke2\config.yaml.d\50-rancher.yaml
C:\var\lib\rancher\agent\applied\*-*-applied.plan
C:\usr\local\bin\rke2
C:\var\lib\rancher\capr\idempotence\idempotent.sh
RKE2 nodes expand the list to include the files below:
C:\etc\rancher\node\password
C:\var\lib\rancher\rke2\agent\logs\kubelet.log
C:\var\lib\rancher\rke2\data\v1.**.**-rke2r*-windows-amd64-*\bin\*
C:\var\lib\rancher\rke2\bin\*
This vulnerability is exclusive to deployments that contain Windows nodes. Linux-only environments are not affected by it.
Please consult the associated MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation for further information about this category of attack.
Patches
Patched versions include Rancher Manager 2.8.9 and 2.9.3. For RKE2 Windows nodes, please refer to its specific advisory. No patches are available for 2.7, therefore users are urged to upgrade to newer minor versions or to apply the manual workaround below.
Workarounds
Users are advised to upgrade to a patched version of Rancher Manager. When that is not possible, users can enforce stricter ACLs for all sensitive files affected by this Security Advisory running this PowerShell script as an Administrator on each node.
References
For more information
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/rancher | ≥ 2.7.0&&< 2.8.9 | 2.8.9 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.9.0&&< 2.9.3 | 2.9.3 |
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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.8.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.