CVE-2025-23391

Rancher: Restricted Administrator can change Administrator's passwords

A vulnerability has been identified within Rancher where a Restricted Administrator can change the password of Administrators and take over their accounts.

A Restricted Administrator should be not allowed to change the password of more privileged users unless it contains the Manage Users permissions.

Rancher deployments where the Restricted Administrator role is not being used are not affected by this CVE.
Please consult the associated MITRE ATT&CK - Technique - Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism for further information about this category of attack.

CVE-2025-23391 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, high 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 (2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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The fix introduces a few changes:

1. If the user has a manage-users verb, the user is allowed to edit/delete users. That way the Manage Users built in role will still be able to edit ALL users.
2. If the user doesn't have manage-users, just edit or delete, then there is a check to ensure that the User being edited only has rules equal to or less than the editor.

Patched versions include releases v2.8.14, v2.9.8, v2.10.4 and v2.11.0

1. What is CVE-2025-23391? CVE-2025-23391 is a critical-severity security vulnerability in github.com/rancher/rancher (go), affecting versions >= 2.8.0, < 2.8.14. It is fixed in 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4.
2. How severe is CVE-2025-23391? CVE-2025-23391 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). 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-2025-23391? github.com/rancher/rancher (go) versions >= 2.8.0, < 2.8.14 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-23391? Yes. CVE-2025-23391 is fixed in 2.8.14, 2.9.8, 2.10.4. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-23391 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-23391 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-2025-23391 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-2025-23391?
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.8.14 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.9.8 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/rancher/rancher to 2.10.4 or later

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/rancher/rancher