CVE-2024-22031: Github.com/rancher/rancher Rancher Users Who Can Create Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8h6m-wv39-239m
CVSS 8.5
CWE-863
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-22031 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.5) rancher users who can create vulnerability (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) affecting Github.com/rancher/rancher libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves rancher users who can create projects can gain access to arbitrary projects. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.9.9, 2.10.5, 2.11.1.

CVE-2024-22031 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-22031
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8h6m-wv39-239m
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.5
CWE Classification CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization
Affected Product Github.com/rancher/rancher
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2024-22031

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Github.com/rancher/rancher dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.9.9
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.9.9
github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.10.5
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.10.5
github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.11.1
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.11.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for github.com/rancher/rancher

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2024-22031, inspect your project dependencies for Github.com/rancher/rancher:

inspect dependencies for github.com/rancher/rancher

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Github.com/rancher/rancher in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.9.9), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization, where the product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. In Github.com/rancher/rancher, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact A vulnerability has been identified within Rancher where a user with the ability to create a project, on a certain cluster, can create a project with the same name as an existing project in a different cluster. This results in the user gaining access to the other project in the different cluster, resulting in a privilege escalation. This happens because the namespace used on the local cluster to store related resources (PRTBs and secrets) is the name of the project. Please consult the associated [MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Privilege Escalation](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/) for further information about this category of attack. ### Patches Patched versions include releases `v2.11.1`, `v2.10.5`, `v2.9.9`. The fix involves the following changes: **Rancher:** - Instead of using the project name as the namespace, Rancher will instead be using a new field on the project spec called backingNamespace. If that field exists, use that for the project namespace going forward. However, if the project does not have that field filled out (likely because it existed before this change), Rancher will continue using the name for the namespace. **Rancher Webhook:** - New mutation on create `project.Status.BackingNamespace` to be `SafeConcatName(project.Spec.ClusterName, project.Name)`; - Generate the name manually within the mutating webhook, because normally, name generation happens after the mutating webhooks; - Removed a validation where `projectName` and `Namespace` had to be the same for PRTBs, since PRTBs now go in `project.BackingNamespace`; - On update, if `BackingNamespace` isn't set, set it to `project.Name`. For existing objects after update this will help unify them to the new projects. - The `BackingNamespace` can't be edited after it's set. **Note: Rancher v2.8 release line does not have the fix for this CVE. The fix for v2.8 was considered too complex and with the risk of introducing instabilities right before this version goes into end-of-life (EOL), as documented in [SUSE’s Product Support Lifecycle](https://www.suse.com/lifecycle/#suse-rancher-prime) page. Please see the section below for workarounds or consider upgrading to a newer and patched version of Rancher.** ### Workarounds If you can't upgrade to a fixed version, please make sure that: - Users are not allowed to create projects with the same object names from another cluster. To identify if this security issue could have been abused within your system, you need to find if there are any projects with the same name but on different clusters. To do that, run the following command in the local cluster as an administrator: ``` kubectl get projects -A -o=custom-columns='NAME:metadata.name' | sort | uniq -c ``` That command will list all project names, and show the instances of each name. Any project with more than 1 instance is affected by this security issue. To remedy the situation, the projects will need to be deleted and re-created to ensure no namespace collisions happen. While it would be possible to delete all but 1 of the projects with the same name, this is unadvisable because a user could have given themselves access to the wrong project. ### References If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: - Reach out to the [SUSE Rancher Security team](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/policy) for security related inquiries. - Open an issue in the [Rancher](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/issues/new/choose) repository. - Verify with our [support matrix](https://www.suse.com/suse-rancher/support-matrix/all-supported-versions/) and [product support lifecycle](https://www.suse.com/lifecycle/).

CVE-2024-22031 Affected Github.com/rancher/rancher Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.9.92.10.52.11.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.8.0
< 2.9.9
2.9.9
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.10.0
< 2.10.5
2.10.5
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.11.0
< 2.11.1
2.11.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-22031?
CVE-2024-22031 is a security vulnerability in Github.com/rancher/rancher involving Rancher users who can create Projects can gain access to arbitrary projects under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization.
Which Github.com/rancher/rancher versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.9.9, 2.10.5, 2.11.1 across affected packages: github.com/rancher/rancher.
What version fixes CVE-2024-22031?
Upgrading to 2.9.9, 2.10.5, 2.11.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is github.com/rancher/rancher affected?
Yes, github.com/rancher/rancher is affected in releases prior to 2.9.9, 2.10.5, 2.11.1. Upgrade your dependency to 2.9.9, 2.10.5, 2.11.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-22031?
CVE-2024-22031 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-22031?
CVE-2024-22031 is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization (The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2024-22031?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for github.com/rancher/rancher'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-8h6m-wv39-239m",
  "modified" : "2025-05-23T18:36:19Z",
  "published" : "2025-04-25T15:09:26Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-22031" ],
  "summary" : "Rancher users who can create Projects can gain access to arbitrary projects",
  "details" : "### Impact\nA vulnerability has been identified within Rancher where a user with the ability to create a project, on a certain cluster, can create a project with the same name as an existing project in a different cluster. This results in the user gaining access to the other project in the different cluster, resulting in a privilege escalation. This happens because the namespace used on the local cluster to store related resources (PRTBs and secrets) is the name of the project.\n\nPlease consult the associated  [MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Privilege Escalation](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004/) for further information about this category of attack.\n\n### Patches\nPatched versions include releases `v2.11.1`, `v2.10.5`, `v2.9.9`.\n\nThe fix involves the following changes:\n\n**Rancher:**\n- Instead of using the project name as the namespace, Rancher will instead be using a new field on the project spec called backingNamespace. If that field exists, use that for the project namespace going forward. However, if the project does not have that field filled out (likely because it existed before this change), Rancher will continue using the name for the namespace.\n\n**Rancher Webhook:**\n- New mutation on create `project.Status.BackingNamespace` to be `SafeConcatName(project.Spec.ClusterName, project.Name)`;\n- Generate the name manually within the mutating webhook, because normally, name generation happens after the mutating webhooks;\n- Removed a validation where `projectName` and `Namespace` had to be the same for PRTBs, since PRTBs now go in `project.BackingNamespace`;\n- On update, if `BackingNamespace` isn't set, set it to `project.Name`. For existing objects after update this will help unify them to the new projects.\n- The `BackingNamespace` can't be edited after it's set.\n\n**Note: Rancher v2.8 release line does not have the fix for this CVE. The fix for v2.8 was considered too complex and with the risk of introducing instabilities right before this version goes into end-of-life (EOL), as documented in [SUSE’s Product Support Lifecycle](https://www.suse.com/lifecycle/#suse-rancher-prime) page. Please see the section below for workarounds or consider upgrading to a newer and patched version of Rancher.**\n\n### Workarounds\nIf you can't upgrade to a fixed version, please make sure that:\n- Users are not allowed to create projects with the same object names from another cluster.\n\nTo identify if this security issue could have been abused within your system, you need to find if there are any projects with the same name but on different clusters. To do that, run the following command in the local cluster as an administrator:\n```\nkubectl get projects -A -o=custom-columns='NAME:metadata.name' | sort | uniq -c\n```\n\nThat command will list all project names, and show the instances of each name. Any project with more than 1 instance is affected by this security issue. To remedy the situation, the projects will need to be deleted and re-created to ensure no namespace collisions happen. While it would be possible to delete all but 1 of the projects with the same name, this is unadvisable because a user could have given themselves access to the wrong project.\n\n### References\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n- Reach out to the [SUSE Rancher Security team](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/policy) for security related inquiries.\n- Open an issue in the [Rancher](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/issues/new/choose) repository.\n- Verify with our [support matrix](https://www.suse.com/suse-rancher/support-matrix/all-supported-versions/) and [product support lifecycle](https://www.suse.com/lifecycle/).",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.8.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.9.9"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.10.0"
      }, {
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      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.11.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.11.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/advisories/GHSA-8h6m-wv39-239m"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/commit/7f16b596120dd382ce6e9ed0baf83bc23f633054"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/commit/9c1d1c2bfcba36ae4f06c1fd043eb539ad801d4d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/commit/b0be28f86fc556414bd9b323f05b2b4bf8317c2d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/commit/f036e8b6ab726c3abbc03bbf7c8d0d53373c84e5"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2025-3647"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-04-25T15:09:26Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}