GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Rancher permissions on 'namespaces' in any API group grants 'edit' permissions on namespaces in 'core'
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 | 2.6.14 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.7.0&&< 2.7.10 | 2.7.10 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/rancher/rancher | ≥ 2.8.0&&< 2.8.2 | 2.8.2 |
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. 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 2.6.14 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc 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-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 detects GHSA-c85r-fwc7-45vc across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.