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RancherApplication · Suse

CVE-2019-11202

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-07-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An issue was discovered that affects the following versions of Rancher: v2.0.0 through v2.0.13, v2.1.0 through v2.1.8, and v2.2.0 through 2.2.1. When Rancher starts for the first time, it creates a default admin user with a well-known password. After initial setup, the Rancher administrator may choose to delete this default admin user. If Rancher is restarted, the default admin user will be recreated with the well-known default password. An attacker could exploit this by logging in with the default admin credentials. This can be mitigated by deactivating the default admin user rather than completing deleting them.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

In affected Rancher versions (v2.0.0-v2.0.13, v2.1.0-v2.1.8, v2.2.0-2.2.1), the default admin user is recreated with a well-known default password upon server restart if it was previously deleted. An attacker with network access to the Rancher interface could exploit this to gain full administrative access.

MitigationInstead of deleting the default admin user, deactivate or disable the account. Alternatively, upgrade to a patched version. Ensure the default password is changed immediately if the account exists.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
RancherApplication
Affected:>= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.13>= 2.1.0, <= 2.1.8>= 2.2.0, <= 2.2.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Rancher server version
    Access the Rancher UI and navigate to the settings page, or use the API endpoint /v1/settings/server-version to retrieve the installed version
    Affected if The installed version falls within 2.0.0-2.0.13, 2.1.0-2.1.8, or 2.2.0-2.2.1
  2. Identify the default admin account
    In the Rancher UI, go to Users and Authentication under Global Settings to view all users, or query the /v3/users API endpoint
    Affected if A user with the username 'admin' or the default admin username exists in the user list
  3. Verify if default admin was previously deleted
    Review Rancher server logs for events related to user deletion and subsequent server restarts, or check with the system administrator about prior deletion of the default admin user
    Affected if The default admin user was deleted and the Rancher server has been restarted since that deletion
  4. Confirm default password is active
    Attempt to authenticate with the default admin credentials (username: admin, password: admin) or check password last changed timestamp in the user profile via the UI or /v3/users API
    Affected if The default admin user can be accessed using the well-known default password or the password has never been changed from default

You are affected if running a vulnerable Rancher version where the default admin was deleted and the server restarted, resulting in recreation of the account with the default password still active.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.2.1
Interim mitigation

Instead of deleting the default admin user, deactivate or disable the account. Alternatively, upgrade to a patched version. Ensure the default password is changed immediately if the account exists.

Recommended fix High confidence

Rancher v2.0.14+ / v2.1.9+ / v2.2.2+ (or migrate to latest stable 2.3+ release)

  1. 1. Back up your Rancher environment and data before upgrading.
  2. 2. Upgrade Rancher to version 2.0.14 or later for the 2.0.x line, version 2.1.9 or later for the 2.1.x line, or version 2.2.2 or later for the 2.2.x line.
  3. 3. After upgrade, verify that the default admin user recreation issue is resolved by testing a restart scenario.
  4. 4. If you previously deleted the default admin user, create a new admin user with a strong, unique password after the upgrade.
  5. 5. Review user management and ensure no unauthorized admin accounts exist.
Caveat Review Rancher upgrade documentation for database migration notes between major version lines; test in staging before production upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Rancher Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-11202 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data