dbcve.org
RancherApplication · Suse

CVE-2021-36783

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.5.13 / 2.6.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
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
A Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners and Project Members to read credentials, passwords and API tokens that have been stored in cleartext and exposed via API endpoints. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.6.4; Rancher versions prior to 2.5.13.

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

SUSE Rancher versions prior to 2.6.4 and 2.5.13 expose sensitive credentials, passwords, and API tokens in cleartext through API endpoints. Authenticated users with Cluster Owner, Cluster Member, Project Owner, or Project Member roles can read credentials stored in the system that they should not have access to, representing an insufficient access control vulnerability allowing unauthorized credential disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade SUSE Rancher to version 2.6.4 or 2.5.13 or later to patch the insufficient credential protection. Review API access logs for signs of unauthorized credential exfiltration by lower-privileged users.

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:>= 2.5.0, < 2.5.13>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.4

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 installed Rancher version
    Navigate to the Rancher UI footer or use the API endpoint /version to determine the exact version number running
    Affected if Version is 2.5.0 through 2.5.12, or 2.6.0 through 2.6.3 (meaning version is less than 2.5.13 or 2.6.4)
  2. Verify user role assignments
    Review user role bindings in Rancher under Users and Authentication. Check if any users are assigned Cluster Owner, Cluster Member, Project Owner, or Project Member roles
    Affected if Lower-privileged users (non-admin) with these roles exist in the system
  3. Test API credential disclosure
    Using an authenticated session with a Cluster Owner/Member or Project Owner/Member role, query the Rancher API endpoints for secrets or credentials (such as /v3/secrets or /v3/clustersecrets) for clusters or projects the user does not own
    Affected if The API returns credential data (passwords, API tokens, access keys) in cleartext that the requesting user should not have permission to view
  4. Review API access logs
    Examine Rancher API audit logs (available in the UI under /v3/eventLogs or the Kubernetes audit logs) for requests to credential-related endpoints by non-admin users
    Affected if Logs show Cluster Owner, Cluster Member, Project Owner, or Project Member users accessing credential endpoints for resources outside their authorized scope

You are affected if your Rancher version is below 2.5.13 or 2.6.4 AND lower-privileged users with Cluster Owner, Cluster Member, Project Owner, or Project Member roles can retrieve credentials they should not access through the API.

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 2.5.13 / 2.6.4 or later
Fixed in 2.5.132.6.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade SUSE Rancher to version 2.6.4 or 2.5.13 or later to patch the insufficient credential protection. Review API access logs for signs of unauthorized credential exfiltration by lower-privileged users.

Recommended fix High confidence

Rancher 2.5.13 or 2.6.4 (depending on your current branch)

  1. 1. Take a complete backup of your Rancher environment including etcd snapshots and any critical data.
  2. 2. If running Rancher 2.5.x, upgrade to version 2.5.13 or later.
  3. 3. If running Rancher 2.6.x, upgrade to version 2.6.4 or later.
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify the API endpoints no longer expose credentials, passwords, or API tokens in cleartext.
  5. 5. Confirm all Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, and Project Members can no longer access stored credentials through the API.
  6. 6. Review user role assignments to ensure only appropriate administrators have access to sensitive credentials.
Caveat Review Rancher release notes for any known issues between your current version and the target upgrade version before proceeding

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

Fix this in Rancher Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

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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-2021-36783 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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