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CVE-2022-31247 — Vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher — CVE...

CRITICAL

Rancher has downstream cluster privilege escalation through cluster and project role template binding (CRTB/PRTB)

Published March 3, 2026Updated July 8, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### 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. - Example of a modified CRTB (note: the `clusterName` points to the cluster ID of the cluster that the privileges will be escalated and `namespace` points to the current cluster ID that the user has permissions): ``` kubectl edit clusterroletemplatebindings crtb-<crtb-ID> -n c-<cluster-ID> --- apiVersion: management.cattle.io/v3 clusterName: <ID-of-the-cluster-to-escalate> kind: ClusterRoleTemplateBinding metadata: annotations: <omitted> finalizers: - <omitted> generateName: crtb- labels: <omitted> cattle.io/creator: norman name: crtb-<crtb-ID> namespace: c-<current-cluster-ID> roleTemplateName: cluster-owner userName: u-<user-ID> userPrincipalName: local://u-<user-ID> ``` An artifact to flag the exploitation of this issue is that the `namespace` of the CRTB/PRTB will not match the cluster name (`clusterName`) of the CRTB/PRTB. For example, every CRTB in the `c-123xyz` namespace should have a cluster name of `c-123xyz`. If instead, the cluster name is `c-abc567`, for example, this is likely a result of a user exploiting this flaw. For more information about cluster and project roles, please consult Rancher's [documentation](https://rancher.com/docs/rancher/v2.6/en/admin-settings/rbac/cluster-project-roles/). ### Patches Patched versions include releases 2.5.16, 2.6.7 and later versions. ### Workarounds Limit access in Rancher to trusted users. There is not a direct mitigation besides upgrading to the patched Rancher versions. **Important:** - It is highly advised to check the local and downstream clusters for potential unrecognized CRTBs (`kubectl get clusterroletemplatebindings -A`) and PRTBs (`kubectl get projectroletemplatebindings -A`) assignments. - The ability to add other users to projects and clusters is a highly-privileged permission which may result in users being able to operate beyond their explicitly specified RBAC. It is recommended that this permission be granted selectively. The following script can be used as a helper to detect possible deviations of CRTBs and PRTBs that do not match the expected value. Further investigation is required to determine if the flagged objects were maliciously modified or not. The script requires `kubectl` access to the `local` cluster and the `jq` command. ```shell #!/usr/bin/env bash echo "CRTBs that don't match cluster:" kubectl get clusterroletemplatebindings -A -o=jsonpath="{range .items[?(@.clusterName!=@.metadata.namespace)]}{.metadata.name}{'\n'}{end}" echo "PRTBs that don't match project:" kubectl get projectroletemplatebindings -A -ojson | jq -r '.items[]|.metadata as $m|select(.projectName|endswith($m.namespace)|not)|.metadata.name' ``` ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Reach out to [SUSE Rancher Security team](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/policy) for security related inquiries. * Open an issue in [Rancher](https://github.com/rancher/rancher/issues/new/choose) repository. * Verify our [support matrix](https://www.suse.com/suse-rancher/support-matrix/all-supported-versions/) and [product support lifecycle](https://www.suse.com/lifecycle/).

Advisory Timeline

  • First published March 3, 2026 (223 days ago).
  • Last revised July 8, 2026 — 127 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Go
Update github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.6.7 or later
go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.6.7
Go
Update github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.5.16 or later
go get github.com/rancher/rancher@v2.5.16

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

Affects 1 ecosystem: go (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
github.com/rancher/rancher
go
All versions2.6.7
github.com/rancher/rancher
go
All versions2.5.16

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-285
    Improper AuthorizationMITRE
  • CWE-863
    Incorrect AuthorizationMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.1 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-31247?
Rancher has downstream cluster privilege escalation through cluster and project role template binding (CRTB/PRTB) This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.1/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2022-31247?
CVE-2022-31247 affects github.com/rancher/rancher. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2022-31247 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.1

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-6x34-89p7-95wg

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