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RancherApplication · Suse

CVE-2019-12274

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-06-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
In Rancher 1 and 2 through 2.2.3, unprivileged users (if allowed to deploy nodes) can gain admin access to the Rancher management plane because node driver options intentionally allow posting certain data to the cloud. The problem is that a user could choose to post a sensitive file such as /root/.kube/config or /var/lib/rancher/management-state/cred/kubeconfig-system.yaml.

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

Unprivileged users with node deployment permissions in Rancher 1.x and 2.x through 2.2.3 can read and post sensitive kubeconfig files (such as /root/.kube/config or /var/lib/rancher/management-state/cred/kubeconfig-system.yaml) through node driver options, enabling privilege escalation to admin access on the Rancher management plane.

MitigationRestrict or disable node driver options that allow posting arbitrary files to cloud providers, and upgrade to a patched Rancher version (2.2.4+ or 2.3.0+).

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:>= 1.0.0, <= 1.6.28>= 2.0.0, <= 2.2.3

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Identify Rancher version
    Check the Rancher server version via the UI (bottom left corner) or by running `kubectl get rancher -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.version}'` against the local cluster, or check the Docker container tag if running containerized.
    Affected if Version is 1.0.0 through 1.6.28, or 2.0.0 through 2.2.3
  2. Identify users with node driver permissions
    In the Rancher UI, navigate to Security > Users and Roles, or use the API at `/v3/users` and `/v3/roletemplates` to list users assigned the 'Create, Update, Delete' role for node drivers or the 'node' role.
    Affected if Any user other than a full administrator has permissions to deploy nodes via node drivers
  3. Check for active node drivers
    In Rancher UI, go to Settings > Drivers > Node Drivers, or query the API at `/v3/nodedrivers` to list enabled node drivers. Also check Legacy > Node Drivers in Rancher 1.x.
    Affected if Any node driver (such as DigitalOcean, Linode, Azure, etc.) is enabled and available to non-admin users
  4. Review role template permissions for node creation
    Query the API at `/v3/roletemplates` and inspect the 'locked' field and 'rules' for roles that include 'create' on 'nodes' or 'nodetemplates'. In the UI, check each role under Security > Roles to see if Node Creation or Node Templates permissions are granted.
    Affected if Non-administrator role templates grant create or delete permissions on nodes or nodetemplates
  5. Verify kubeconfig file access paths exist
    If you have shell access to the Rancher server node, check for the existence of `/var/lib/rancher/management-state/cred/` directory or `/root/.kube/config` file. These paths contain sensitive kubeconfig files that could be exfiltrated.
    Affected if These sensitive kubeconfig files exist and the Rancher version is in the affected range

You are affected if your Rancher version falls within 1.0.0-1.6.28 or 2.0.0-2.2.3 AND any non-administrator user has node deployment permissions through node drivers.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.2.3
Interim mitigation

Restrict or disable node driver options that allow posting arbitrary files to cloud providers, and upgrade to a patched Rancher version (2.2.4+ or 2.3.0+).

Fix this in Rancher Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2019-12274 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