CVE-2019-13209

Rancher Vulnerable to Cross-site Request Forgery (CSRF)

Rancher 2 through 2.2.4 is vulnerable to a Cross-Site Websocket Hijacking attack that allows an exploiter to gain access to clusters managed by Rancher. The attack requires a victim to be logged into a Rancher server, and then to access a third-party site hosted by the exploiter. Once that is accomplished, the exploiter is able to execute commands against the cluster's Kubernetes API with the permissions and identity of the victim.

Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.

CVE-2019-13209 has a CVSS score of 8.7 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.0.16, 2.1.11, 2.2.5); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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1. What is CVE-2019-13209? CVE-2019-13209 is a high-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher (go), affecting versions >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.16. It is fixed in 2.0.16, 2.1.11, 2.2.5. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
2. How severe is CVE-2019-13209? CVE-2019-13209 has a CVSS score of 8.7 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of github.com/rancher/rancher are affected by CVE-2019-13209? github.com/rancher/rancher (go) versions >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.16 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2019-13209? Yes. CVE-2019-13209 is fixed in 2.0.16, 2.1.11, 2.2.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2019-13209 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2019-13209 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2019-13209 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2019-13209?
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.0.16 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.1.11 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.2.5 or later

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/rancher/rancher