GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher. A fix is available for github.com/rancher/rancher — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Rancher permissions on 'namespaces' in any API group grants 'edit' permissions on namespaces in 'core'
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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 GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc.
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
GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc 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 379,145 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
Impact
A vulnerability has been identified when granting a create or * global role for a resource type of "namespaces"; no matter the API group, the subject will receive * permissions for core namespaces. This can lead to someone being capable of accessing, creating, updating, or deleting a namespace in the project. This includes reading or updating a namespace in the project so that it is available in other projects in which the user has the "manage-namespaces" permission or updating another namespace in which the user has normal "update" permissions to be moved into the project.
The expected behavior is to not be able to create, update, or delete a namespace in the project or move another namespace into the project since the user doesn't have any permissions on namespaces in the core API group.
Moving a namespace to another project could lead to leakage of secrets, in case the targeted project has secrets. And also can lead to the namespace being able to abuse the resource quotas of the targeted project.
Patches
Patched versions include releases 2.6.14, 2.7.10 and 2.8.2.
Workarounds
There is no direct mitigation besides updating Rancher to a patched version.
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/rancher | ≥ 2.6.0&&< 2.6.14 | 2.6.14go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.6.14 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.7.0&&< 2.7.10 | 2.7.10go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.7.10 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.8.0&&< 2.8.2 | 2.8.2go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.8.2 |
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
Update github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.6.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc 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 GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc. 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-c85r-fwc7-45vc in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.