Summary
Rancher's Azure AD permission changes are not reflected on active sessions
A bug has been identified in which permission changes in Azure AD are not reflected to users while they are logged in the Rancher UI. This would cause the users to retain their previous permissions in Rancher, even if they change groups on Azure AD, for example, to a lower privileged group, or are removed from a group, thus retaining their access to Rancher instead of losing it.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Reach out to the SUSE Rancher Security team for security related inquiries.
- Open an issue in the Rancher repository.
- Verify with our support matrix and product support lifecycle.
Impact
This issue only affects Rancher instances with Azure AD integration enabled, regardless of the automatically refreshing settings which are enabled by default. The users that obtained a token (or kubeconfig) to access Rancher through the following sessions are affected by this issue:
- Users using the Rancher UI.
- Users using
kubectlbased on akubeconfigdownloaded through the Rancher UI. - Tokens created via the Rancher UI Create API Key feature.
Note that the permission caching is persisted even when the Rancher Manager pod is restarted. The only way for a user to get the new permissions is to logout and login again.
The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access. Typical impact: privilege escalation beyond the intended level.
CVE-2023-22648 has a CVSS score of 8.0 (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 (2.6.13, 2.7.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Patched versions include releases 2.6.13, 2.7.4 and later versions.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-22648? CVE-2023-22648 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher (go), affecting versions >= 2.6.7, < 2.6.13. It is fixed in 2.6.13, 2.7.4. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- How severe is CVE-2023-22648? CVE-2023-22648 has a CVSS score of 8.0 (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.
- Which versions of github.com/rancher/rancher are affected by CVE-2023-22648? github.com/rancher/rancher (go) versions >= 2.6.7, < 2.6.13 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-22648? Yes. CVE-2023-22648 is fixed in 2.6.13, 2.7.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-22648 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-22648 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2023-22648 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-22648?
- Upgrade
github.com/rancher/rancherto 2.6.13 or later - Upgrade
github.com/rancher/rancherto 2.7.4 or later
- Upgrade