CVE-2025-23391: Rancher Restricted Administrator Can Change Administrator's Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-8p83-cpfg-fj3g
CVSS 9.1
CWE-266
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-23391 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.1) restricted administrator can change administrator's vulnerability (CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment) affecting Rancher libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves restricted administrator can change administrator's passwords. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4.

CVE-2025-23391 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-23391
GHSA Identifier GHSA-8p83-cpfg-fj3g
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.1
CWE Classification CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment
Affected Product Rancher
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.1

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required High (PR:H)
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-2025-23391

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected 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: 2.8.14
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.8.14
github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.9.8
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.9.8
github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.10.4
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.10.4
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-2025-23391, inspect your project dependencies for Rancher:

inspect dependencies for github.com/rancher/rancher

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Rancher in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.8.14), 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-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment, where a product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. In 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 Restricted Administrator can change the password of Administrators and take over their accounts. A Restricted Administrator should be not allowed to change the password of more privileged users unless it contains the Manage Users permissions. Rancher deployments where the Restricted Administrator role is not being used are not affected by this CVE. Please consult the associated [MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/) for further information about this category of attack. ### Patches The fix introduces a few changes: 1. If the user has a manage-users verb, the user is allowed to edit/delete users. That way the Manage Users built in role will still be able to edit ALL users. 2. If the user doesn't have manage-users, just edit or delete, then there is a check to ensure that the User being edited only has rules equal to or less than the editor. Patched versions include releases `v2.8.14`, `v2.9.8`, `v2.10.4` and `v2.11.0` ### Workarounds Users are recommended to upgrade, as soon as possible, to a version of Rancher Manager that contains the fix. If users can't upgrade, the following are recommended: 1. Limit access to Rancher Restricted Admin only to trusted users. 2. Downgrade Restricted Administrators to custom roles with limited permissions. ### Credits This issue was identified and reported by Xavier Duthil from OVHcloud. ### 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-2025-23391 Affected Rancher Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.8.142.9.82.10.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.8.0
< 2.8.14
2.8.14
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.9.0
< 2.9.8
2.9.8
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.10.0
< 2.10.4
2.10.4

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-23391?
CVE-2025-23391 is a security vulnerability in Rancher involving Restricted Administrator can change Administrator's passwords under CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment.
Which Rancher versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4 across affected packages: github.com/rancher/rancher.
What version fixes CVE-2025-23391?
Upgrading to 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4 (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 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4. Upgrade your dependency to 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-23391?
CVE-2025-23391 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-23391?
CVE-2025-23391 is classified under CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment (A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2025-23391?
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-8p83-cpfg-fj3g",
  "modified" : "2025-04-11T23:13:29Z",
  "published" : "2025-04-01T14:19:30Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-23391" ],
  "summary" : "Rancher: Restricted Administrator can change Administrator's passwords",
  "details" : "### Impact\nA vulnerability has been identified within Rancher where a Restricted Administrator can change the password of Administrators and take over their accounts. \n\nA Restricted Administrator should be not allowed to change the password of more privileged users unless it contains the Manage Users permissions.\n\nRancher deployments where the Restricted Administrator role is not being used are not affected by this CVE.\nPlease consult the associated  [MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1548/) for further information about this category of attack.\n\n### Patches\nThe fix introduces a few changes:\n1. If the user has a manage-users verb, the user is allowed to edit/delete users. That way the Manage Users built in role will still be able to edit ALL users.\n2. If the user doesn't have manage-users, just edit or delete, then there is a check to ensure that the User being edited only has rules equal to or less than the editor.\n\nPatched versions include releases `v2.8.14`, `v2.9.8`, `v2.10.4` and `v2.11.0`\n\n### Workarounds\nUsers are recommended to upgrade, as soon as possible, to a version of Rancher Manager that contains the fix.\nIf users can't upgrade, the following are recommended:\n1. Limit access to Rancher Restricted Admin only to trusted users.\n2. Downgrade Restricted Administrators to custom roles with limited permissions.\n\n### Credits\nThis issue was identified and reported by Xavier Duthil from OVHcloud.\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:L/PR:H/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" : "2.8.14"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.9.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.9.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.10.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.10.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/advisories/GHSA-8p83-cpfg-fj3g"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-23391"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2025-23391"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-266" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-04-01T14:19:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-04-11T11:15:42Z"
  }
}