Privilege escalation in project role template binding (PRTB) and -promoted roles

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.2 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2022-43759: 0.68% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 52.30 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact An issue was discovered in Rancher versions from 2.5.0 up to and including 2.5.16 and from 2.6.0 up to and including 2.6.9, where an authorization logic flaw allows privilege escalation via project role template binding (PRTB) and -promoted roles. This issue is not present in Rancher 2.7 releases. Note: Consult Rancher documentation for more information about cluster and project roles and KB 000020097 for information about -promoted roles. This privilege escalation is possible for users with access to the escalate verb on PRTBs (projectroletemplatebindings.management.cattle.io), including users with verbs on PRTBs (see notes below for more information). These users can escalate permissions for any -promoted resource (see the table below for a full enumeration) in any cluster where they have a PRTB granting such permissions in at least one project in the cluster. On a default Rancher setup, only the following roles have such permissions: 1. Project Owner 2. Manage Project…

Published by the source

25 Jan 2023, 19:35 UTC

Last modified by the source

15 Feb 2023, 22:01 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:55 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-7m72-mh5r-6j3r

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-43759

Advisory: Privilege escalation in project role template binding (PRTB) and -promoted roles
IDs: CVE-2022-43759, GHSA-7m72-mh5r-6j3r
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-43759 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:55 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.2)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/rancher/rancher 2.6.10, 2.5.17. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/rancher/rancher: affected >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.17; >= 2.6.0, < 2.6.10; fixed in 2.5.17, 2.6.10

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/rancher/rancher: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/rancher/rancher.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7m72-mh5r-6j3r (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7m72-mh5r-6j3r lists affected ranges: Go github.com/rancher/rancher >=2.5.0 =2.6.0 <2.6.10)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.