CVE-2021-4200
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 · uneditedA Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows write access to the Catalog for any user when restricted-admin role is enabled. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.13; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.4.
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 · moderate confidenceImproper privilege management in SUSE Rancher allows users with the restricted-admin role to retain write access to the Catalog, bypassing the intended restrictions of that role. The restricted-admin role is supposed to limit privileges, but the vulnerability permits catalog write operations that should be blocked.
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< 2.5.13>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.4CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine Rancher versionAccess the Rancher UI, go to the settings or about page, or use the kubectl command to query the Rancher version. Alternatively, check the Helm chart version if deployed via Helm.Affected if The installed version is less than 2.5.13, or greater than or equal to 2.6.0 but less than 2.6.4
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Identify restricted-admin role usageIn the Rancher UI, navigate to Users and Authentication, then review all users and their assigned roles. Look for any users assigned the 'restricted-admin' role.Affected if Any user account is assigned the restricted-admin role
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Verify catalog write access for restricted-adminAs a user with restricted-admin role, attempt to add, modify, or delete a catalog in Rancher (Global Apps > Catalogs > Add Catalog). Alternatively, review the role permissions configuration for restricted-admin to confirm write access to catalog resources is present.Affected if Users with restricted-admin role can perform write operations on catalogs when they should not be able to
A user is affected if running a vulnerable Rancher version AND any user with restricted-admin role can perform catalog write operations that should be blocked by that role.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped2.5.132.6.4
Upgrade Rancher to version 2.5.13 or later (for the 2.5.x branch) or 2.6.4 or later (for the 2.6.x branch) to remediate this improper privilege management issue.
Rancher 2.5.13 or 2.6.4 (depending on your release line)
- Backup your Rancher installation and data before proceeding with any upgrade
- Upgrade Rancher to version 2.5.13 if you are on the 2.5.x release line
- Upgrade Rancher to version 2.6.4 if you are on the 2.6.x release line
- After upgrade, verify that users with restricted-admin role no longer have write access to the Catalog
- Confirm the upgrade was successful by checking the Rancher UI and verifying normal functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-4200 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-4200 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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