rke's credentials are stored in the RKE1 Cluster state ConfigMap

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-32191: 0.66% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 51.60 (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 When RKE provisions a cluster, it stores the cluster state in a configmap called full-cluster-state inside the kube-system namespace of the cluster itself. This cluster state object contains information used to set up the K8s cluster, which may include the following sensitive data: - RancherKubernetesEngineConfig - RKENodeConfig - SSH username - SSH private key - SSH private key path - RKEConfigServices - ETCDService - External client key - BackupConfig - S3BackupConfig - AWS access key - AWS secret key - KubeAPIService - SecretsEncryptionConfig - K8s encryption configuration (contains encryption keys) - PrivateRegistries - User - Password - ECRCredentialPlugin - AWS access key - AWS secret key - AWS session token - CloudProvider - AzureCloudProvider - AAD client ID - AAD client secret - AAD client cert password - OpenstackCloudProvider - Username - User ID - Password - VsphereCloudProvider - GlobalVsphereOpts - User - Password - VirtualCenterConfig - User - Password -…

Published by the source

17 Jun 2024, 22:30 UTC

Last modified by the source

16 Oct 2024, 17:26 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:05 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-6gr4-52w6-vmqx

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-32191

Advisory: rke's credentials are stored in the RKE1 Cluster state ConfigMap
IDs: CVE-2023-32191, GHSA-6gr4-52w6-vmqx
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-32191 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:05 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9)
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/rke 1.5.10, 1.4.19. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/rancher/rke: affected >= 1.4.18, < 1.4.19; >= 1.5.9, < 1.5.10; fixed in 1.4.19, 1.5.10

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/rancher/rke: 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/rke.
- 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-6gr4-52w6-vmqx (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-6gr4-52w6-vmqx lists affected ranges: Go github.com/rancher/rke >=1.4.18 =1.5.9 <1.5.10)

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