CVE-2023-32197 in rancher
Summary
by MITRE • 04/16/2025
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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/16/2025
The vulnerability CVE-2023-32197 represents a critical improper privilege management flaw within SUSE Rancher's RoleTemplate objects that can enable unauthorized privilege escalation under specific conditions. This weakness exists in the authentication and authorization mechanisms of Rancher's role-based access control system, where the system fails to properly validate privilege levels when external=true is configured in RoleTemplate objects. The vulnerability affects Rancher versions from 2.7.0 through 2.7.13 and 2.8.0 through 2.8.4, creating a window of exposure for organizations using these affected releases. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of external identity provider configurations, allowing malicious actors to manipulate role assignments and potentially gain elevated privileges within the Rancher management plane.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs when Rancher processes RoleTemplate objects with external=true parameter, which indicates that the role template should reference external identity providers such as LDAP or Active Directory. The system fails to properly enforce privilege boundaries when validating these external references, allowing attackers to craft malicious RoleTemplate configurations that bypass normal access controls. This improper privilege management aligns with CWE-276, which describes inadequate privilege management in software systems, and specifically manifests as a failure to properly validate external identity provider references. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the core of Rancher's access control system, where role templates define what actions users can perform within the platform.
Operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential complete system compromise of Rancher management environments. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain access to sensitive cluster configurations, manipulate workloads, access confidential data, and potentially move laterally within containerized environments managed by Rancher. The specific scenarios that trigger this vulnerability involve situations where external identity providers are configured and the system processes RoleTemplate objects with external=true settings. This creates a vector for attackers to escalate privileges from standard user accounts to administrative roles, undermining the fundamental security model of Rancher's RBAC system. The impact is particularly severe in multi-tenant environments where Rancher manages multiple clusters and organizations, as a successful exploitation could provide access to resources belonging to other tenants.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-32197 should focus on immediate patching of affected Rancher versions to the latest releases that contain the fix for this privilege management issue. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring of RoleTemplate configurations, particularly those with external=true settings, to detect anomalous privilege assignments. The recommended approach includes disabling external identity provider configurations when they are not strictly required, implementing least privilege principles for RoleTemplate objects, and conducting regular audits of access control configurations. Security teams should also consider implementing network segmentation and access controls around Rancher management interfaces to limit potential attack surfaces. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper privilege management in container orchestration platforms and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 for Valid Accounts and T1484 for Domain Policy Modification, highlighting the need for comprehensive access control validation in modern cloud-native environments. Organizations should also review their external identity provider configurations and ensure that proper validation mechanisms are in place to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.