CVE-2021-36782
Rancher: Plaintext storage and exposure of credentials in Rancher API and cluster.management.cattle.io object
A Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base to use the Kubernetes API to retrieve plaintext version of sensitive data. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Rancher: Plaintext storage and exposure of credentials in Rancher API and cluster.management.cattle.io object
A Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base to use the Kubernetes API to retrieve plaintext version of sensitive data. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7.
- Record
CVE-2021-36782- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-312
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-6818
A Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base to use the Kubernetes API to retrieve plaintext version of sensitive data. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7.
- Record
EUVD-2022-6818- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-g7j7-h4q8-8w2f
Rancher API and cluster.management.cattle.io object vulnerable to plaintext storage and exposure of credentials
Impact
An issue was discovered in Rancher versions up to and including 2.5.15 and 2.6.6 where sensitive fields, like passwords, API keys and Rancher's service account token (used to provision clusters), were stored in plaintext directly on Kubernetes objects like Clusters, for example cluster.management.cattle.io. Anyone with read access to those objects in the Kubernetes API could retrieve the plaintext version of those sensitive data.
The exposed credentials are visible in Rancher to authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base on the endpoints:
/v1/management.cattle.io.catalogs/v1/management.cattle.io.cluster/v1/management.cattle.io.clustertemplates/v1/management.cattle.io.notifiers/v1/project.cattle.io.sourcecodeproviderconfig/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/catalogs/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/clusters/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/clustertemplates/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/notifiers/k8s/clusters/local/apis/project.cattle.io/v3/sourcecodeproviderconfigs
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.
Important:
- The exposure of Rancher's
serviceAccountTokenallows any standard user to escalate its privileges to cluster administrator in Rancher. - For the exposure of credentials not related to Rancher, the final impact severity for confidentiality, integrity and availability is dependent on the permissions that the leaked credentials have on their own services.
The fields that have been addressed by this security fix are:
Notifier.SMTPConfig.PasswordNotifier.WechatConfig.SecretNotifier.DingtalkConfig.SecretCatalog.Spec.PasswordSourceCodeProviderConfig.GithubPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.GitlabPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.BitbucketCloudPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.BitbucketServerPipelineConfig.PrivateKeyCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.BackupConfig.S3BackupConfig.SecretKeyCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.WeaveNetworkProvider.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.Global.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.VirtualCenter.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.OpenstackCloudProvider.Global.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientSecretCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientCertPasswordCluster.Status.ServiceAccountTokenClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.WeaveNetworkProvider.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.Global.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.VirtualCenter.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.OpenstackCloudProvider.Global.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientSecretClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientCertPassword
Patches
Patched versions include releases 2.5.16, 2.6.7 and later versions.
After upgrading to a patched version, it is…
- Record
GHSA-g7j7-h4q8-8w2f- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-312
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
A Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base to use the Kubernetes API to retrieve plaintext version of sensitive data. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7.
- Record
CVE-2021-36782- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-312
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
A Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base to use the Kubernetes API to retrieve plaintext version of sensitive data. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.5.16; Rancher versions prior to 2.6.7.
- Record
CVE-2021-36782- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-g7j7-h4q8-8w2f
Rancher API and cluster.management.cattle.io object vulnerable to plaintext storage and exposure of credentials
Impact
An issue was discovered in Rancher versions up to and including 2.5.15 and 2.6.6 where sensitive fields, like passwords, API keys and Rancher's service account token (used to provision clusters), were stored in plaintext directly on Kubernetes objects like Clusters, for example cluster.management.cattle.io. Anyone with read access to those objects in the Kubernetes API could retrieve the plaintext version of those sensitive data.
The exposed credentials are visible in Rancher to authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners, Project Members and User Base on the endpoints:
/v1/management.cattle.io.catalogs/v1/management.cattle.io.cluster/v1/management.cattle.io.clustertemplates/v1/management.cattle.io.notifiers/v1/project.cattle.io.sourcecodeproviderconfig/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/catalogs/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/clusters/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/clustertemplates/k8s/clusters/local/apis/management.cattle.io/v3/notifiers/k8s/clusters/local/apis/project.cattle.io/v3/sourcecodeproviderconfigs
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.
Important:
- The exposure of Rancher's
serviceAccountTokenallows any standard user to escalate its privileges to cluster administrator in Rancher. - For the exposure of credentials not related to Rancher, the final impact severity for confidentiality, integrity and availability is dependent on the permissions that the leaked credentials have on their own services.
The fields that have been addressed by this security fix are:
Notifier.SMTPConfig.PasswordNotifier.WechatConfig.SecretNotifier.DingtalkConfig.SecretCatalog.Spec.PasswordSourceCodeProviderConfig.GithubPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.GitlabPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.BitbucketCloudPipelineConfig.ClientSecretSourceCodeProviderConfig.BitbucketServerPipelineConfig.PrivateKeyCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.BackupConfig.S3BackupConfig.SecretKeyCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.WeaveNetworkProvider.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.Global.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.VirtualCenter.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.OpenstackCloudProvider.Global.PasswordCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientSecretCluster.Spec.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientCertPasswordCluster.Status.ServiceAccountTokenClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.PrivateRegistries.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.Network.WeaveNetworkProvider.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.Global.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.VsphereCloudProvider.VirtualCenter.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.OpenstackCloudProvider.Global.PasswordClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientSecretClusterTemplate.Spec.ClusterConfig.RancherKubernetesEngineConfig.CloudProvider.AzureCloudProvider.AADClientCertPassword
Patches
Patched versions include releases 2.5.16, 2.6.7 and later versions.
After upgrading to a patched version, it is…
- Record
GHSA-g7j7-h4q8-8w2f- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-312
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/rancher/rancherGo |
2.5.0 up to 2.5.16 | 2.5.16 |
github.com/rancher/rancherGo |
2.6.0 up to 2.6.7 | 2.6.7 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Metasploit | Rancher Authenticated API Credential Exposure | 2022-08-18 |
| PoC in GitHub | fe-ax/tf-cve-2021-36782 | 2022-12-01 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, Metasploit, NVD, OSV, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-36782 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.9) in Suse Rancher, published September 7, 2022. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 4.17%, the 90th percentile. Fixed in github.com/rancher/rancher 2.5.16.
References
Left out here: the rest of 2 source descriptions. The JSON record has them.