CVE-2023-32197: Rancher allows privilege escalation in Windows nodes due to Insecure Access Control Lists

Should you act?

Normal patch cycle

No exploitation signal; fix it in your next routine update if you are affected. 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 and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.6%, percentile 49: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 49% of all scored CVEs (low). 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) >= 2.7.0, < 2.8.9, fixed in 2.8.9; github.com/rancher/rancher (Go) >= 2.9.0, < 2.9.3, fixed in 2.9.3. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

A Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in SUSE rancher in RoleTemplateobjects when external=true is set can lead to privilege escalation in specific scenarios.This issue affects rancher: from 2.7.0 before 2.7.14, from 2.8.0 before 2.8.5.

From the GitHub advisory

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:

RKE2 nodes expand the list to include the files below:

This vulnerability is exclusive to deployments that contain Windows nodes. Linux-only environments are not affected by it.

Weakness type: CWE-269, CWE-732.

Product: github.com/rancher/rancher (Go) · Assigned by: suse · Published: 2025-04-16

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: high (needs special conditions)
• Attack requirements: none
• Privileges required: high (admin)
• User interaction: none

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).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.62% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 49.

Timeline

• 2024-10-25 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 published (critical)
• 2025-04-16 — CVE record published by suse
• 2026-02-26 — CVE record last updated

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-7h8m-pvw3-5gh4 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2023-32197 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2023-32197 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

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

Critical Go advisories · Today’s Security Digest