CVE-2022-43757

Plaintext storage of sensitive data in Rancher API and cluster.management.cattle.io objects

Workarounds

There is no direct mitigation besides updating Rancher to a patched version.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Reach out to SUSE Rancher Security team for security related inquiries.
• Open an issue in Rancher repository.
• Verify our support matrix and product support lifecycle.

This issue affects Rancher versions from 2.5.0 up to and including 2.5.16, from 2.6.0 up to and including 2.6.9 and 2.7.0. It was discovered that the security advisory CVE-2021-36782 (GHSA-g7j7-h4q8-8w2f), previously released by Rancher, missed addressing some sensitive fields, secret tokens, encryption keys, and SSH keys that were still being stored in plaintext directly on Kubernetes objects like Clusters.

The exposed credentials are visible in Rancher to authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners and Project Members of that cluster on the endpoints:

• /v1/management.cattle.io.cluster
• /v1/management.cattle.io.clustertemplaterevisions

The remaining sensitive fields are now stripped from Clusters and other objects and moved to a Secret before the object is stored. The Secret is retrieved when the credential is needed. For objects that existed before this security fix, a one-time migration happens on startup.

The fields that have been addressed by this security fix are:

• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Services.KubeAPI.SecretsEncryptionConfig.CustomConfig.Providers[].AESGCM.Keys[].Secret
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Services.KubeAPI.SecretsEncryptionConfig.CustomConfig.Providers[].AESCBC.Keys[].Secret
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Services.KubeAPI.SecretsEncryptionConfig.CustomConfig.Providers[].SecretboxConfiguration.Keys[].Secret
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Services.Kubelet.ExtraEnv when containing the AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variable
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.BastionHost.SSHKey
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries[].ECRCredentialPlugin.AwsSecretAccessKey
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries[].ECRCredentialPlugin.AwsSessionToken
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.AciNetworkProvider.ApicUserKey
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.AciNetworkProvider.KafkaClientKey
• Cluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.AciNetworkProvider.Token

Important:

• For the exposure of credentials not related to Rancher, the final impact severity for confidentiality, integrity and availability is dependent on the permissions the leaked credentials have on their services.

• It is recommended to review for potentially leaked credentials in this scenario and to change them if deemed necessary.

CVE-2022-43757 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (2.5.17, 2.6.10, 2.7.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

Patched versions include releases 2.5.17, 2.6.10, 2.7.1 and later versions.

After upgrading to a patched version, it is important to check for the ACISecretsMigrated and RKESecretsMigrated conditions on Clusters and ClusterTemplateRevisions to confirm when secrets have been fully migrated off of those objects, and the objects scoped within them.

1. What is CVE-2022-43757? CVE-2022-43757 is a high-severity security vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher (go), affecting versions >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.17. It is fixed in 2.5.17, 2.6.10, 2.7.1.
2. How severe is CVE-2022-43757? CVE-2022-43757 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (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-2022-43757? github.com/rancher/rancher (go) versions >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.17 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2022-43757? Yes. CVE-2022-43757 is fixed in 2.5.17, 2.6.10, 2.7.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2022-43757 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-43757 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-2022-43757 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-2022-43757?
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.5.17 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.6.10 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.7.1 or later

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/rancher/rancher