CVE-2023-22648: Github.com/rancher/rancher Rancher's Azure AD Permission Changes Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vf6j-6739-78m8
CVSS 8.0
CWE-271 CWE-384 CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-22648 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.0) rancher's azure ad permission changes vulnerability (CWE-271: Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors) affecting Github.com/rancher/rancher libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves rancher's azure ad permission changes are not reflected on active sessions. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.6.13, 2.7.4.

CVE-2023-22648 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-22648
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vf6j-6739-78m8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.0
CWE Classification CWE-271: Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors
Affected Product Github.com/rancher/rancher
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.0

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-22648

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: 2.6.13
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.6.13
github.com/rancher/rancher fixed: 2.7.4
Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.7.4
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-2023-22648, 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 2.6.13), 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-271: Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors, where the product does not drop privileges before passing control of a resource to an actor that does not have those privileges. 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

A bug has been identified in which permission changes in Azure AD are not reflected to users while they are logged in the Rancher UI. This would cause the users to retain their previous permissions in Rancher, even if they change groups on Azure AD, for example, to a lower privileged group, or are removed from a group, thus retaining their access to Rancher instead of losing it. ### Impact This issue only affects Rancher instances with Azure AD integration enabled, regardless of the [automatically refreshing settings](https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/authentication-permissions-and-global-configuration/authentication-config/manage-users-and-groups#automatically-refreshing-user-information) which are enabled by default. The users that obtained a token (or kubeconfig) to access Rancher through the following sessions are affected by this issue: 1) Users using the Rancher UI. 2) Users using `kubectl` based on a `kubeconfig` downloaded through the Rancher UI. 3) Tokens created via the Rancher UI Create API Key feature. Note that the permission caching is persisted even when the Rancher Manager pod is restarted. The only way for a user to get the new permissions is to logout and login again. ### Patches Patched versions include releases `2.6.13`, `2.7.4` and later versions. ### For more information 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-2023-22648 Affected Github.com/rancher/rancher Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.6.132.7.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.6.7
< 2.6.13
2.6.13
github.com/rancher/rancher
Go
≥ 2.7.0
< 2.7.4
2.7.4

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-22648?
CVE-2023-22648 is a security vulnerability in Github.com/rancher/rancher involving Rancher's Azure AD permission changes are not reflected on active sessions under CWE-271: Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors.
Which Github.com/rancher/rancher versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.6.13, 2.7.4 across affected packages: github.com/rancher/rancher.
What version fixes CVE-2023-22648?
Upgrading to 2.6.13, 2.7.4 (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 2.6.13, 2.7.4. Upgrade your dependency to 2.6.13, 2.7.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-22648?
CVE-2023-22648 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.0 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-22648?
CVE-2023-22648 is classified under CWE-271: Privilege Dropping / Lowering Errors (The product does not drop privileges before passing control of a resource to an actor that does not have those privileges.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2023-22648?
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-vf6j-6739-78m8",
  "modified" : "2026-03-03T14:48:42Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-03T14:48:41Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-22648" ],
  "summary" : "Rancher's Azure AD permission changes are not reflected on active sessions",
  "details" : "A bug has been identified in which permission changes in Azure AD are not reflected to users while they are logged in the Rancher UI. This would cause the users to retain their previous permissions in Rancher, even if they change groups on Azure AD, for example, to a lower privileged group, or are removed from a group, thus retaining their access to Rancher instead of losing it.\n\n### Impact\nThis issue only affects Rancher instances with Azure AD integration enabled, regardless of the [automatically refreshing settings](https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/authentication-permissions-and-global-configuration/authentication-config/manage-users-and-groups#automatically-refreshing-user-information) which are enabled by default. The users that obtained a token (or kubeconfig) to access Rancher through the following sessions are affected by this issue:\n1) Users using the Rancher UI.\n2) Users using `kubectl` based on a `kubeconfig` downloaded through the Rancher UI.\n3) Tokens created via the Rancher UI Create API Key feature.\n\nNote that the permission caching is persisted even when the Rancher Manager pod is restarted. The only way for a user to get the new permissions is to logout and login again.\n\n### Patches\nPatched versions include releases `2.6.13`, `2.7.4` and later versions.\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n\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:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.6.7"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.6.13"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/rancher/rancher"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.7.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.7.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/advisories/GHSA-vf6j-6739-78m8"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22648"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2023-22648"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rancher/rancher"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269", "CWE-271", "CWE-384" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-03T14:48:41Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-06-01T13:15:10Z"
  }
}