CVE-2022-31247: Rancher has downstream cluster privilege escalation through cluster and project role template binding (CRTB/PRTB)

Should you act?

Critical, preconditions apply

Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 1.0%, percentile 62: FIRST’s model estimates a 1.0% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 62% of all scored CVEs (moderate). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Needs an account (high (admin)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/rancher/rancher (Go) >= 2.5.0, <= 2.5.15, fixed in 2.5.16; github.com/rancher/rancher (Go) >= 2.6.0, <= 2.6.6, fixed in 2.6.7. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

An Improper Authorization vulnerability in SUSE Rancher, allows any user who has permissions to create/edit cluster role template bindings or project role template bindings (such as cluster-owner, manage cluster members, project-owner and manage project members) to gain owner permission in another project in the same cluster or in another project on a different downstream cluster. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7; Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16.

From the GitHub advisory

Impact

An issue was discovered in Rancher versions up to and including 2.5.15 and 2.6.6 where a flaw with authorization logic allows privilege escalation through cluster role template binding (CRTB) and project role template binding (PRTB). This issue does not affect the local cluster, it affects only downstream clusters.

The vulnerability can be exploited by any user who has permissions to create/edit cluster role template bindings or project role template bindings (such as cluster-owner, manage cluster members, project-owner and manage project members) to gain owner permission in another project in the same cluster or in another project on a different downstream cluster.

- The user must have kubectl access in the local cluster to exploit this scenario.

- This can only be abused to gain cluster-owner permission on a different downstream cluster if the user is already cluster-owner on at least one downstream cluster.

Weakness type: CWE-285, CWE-863.

Product: github.com/rancher/rancher (Go) · Assigned by: suse · Published: 2022-09-07

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: high (admin)
• User interaction: none
• Scope: changed (can affect other components)

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.98% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 62.

Timeline

• 2022-09-07 — CVE record published by suse
• 2024-09-16 — CVE record last updated
• 2026-03-03 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6x34-89p7-95wg published (critical)

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-6x34-89p7-95wg github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2022-31247 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2022-31247 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. bugzilla.suse.com bugzilla.suse.com
2. github.com github.com

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