CVE-2025-23388
📋 TL;DR
A stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows attackers to cause denial of service by crashing the application. This affects Rancher installations running vulnerable versions, potentially disrupting container management operations.
💻 Affected Systems
- SUSE Rancher
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete denial of service with Rancher becoming unresponsive, disrupting container orchestration and management capabilities across the cluster.
Likely Case
Service disruption affecting Rancher UI/API availability, potentially impacting container deployments and management workflows.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and access controls preventing exploitation attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
Buffer overflow vulnerabilities typically have low exploitation complexity, especially for DoS scenarios.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Rancher 2.8.13, 2.9.7, 2.10.3
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/rancher/rancher/security/advisories/GHSA-xr9q-h9c7-xw8q
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup Rancher configuration and data. 2. Upgrade to patched version using Rancher's upgrade procedure. 3. Restart Rancher services. 4. Verify functionality post-upgrade.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Access Restriction
linuxRestrict network access to Rancher management interfaces to trusted IPs only.
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80,443 -s TRUSTED_IP -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80,443 -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access to Rancher interfaces
- Deploy WAF or reverse proxy with buffer overflow protection in front of Rancher
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Rancher version via UI (Settings -> About) or API endpoint /v3/settings/server-versionCheck Version:
kubectl get pods -n cattle-system -l app=rancher -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.containers[0].image}' | grep -o 'rancher/rancher:v[0-9.]*'Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 2.8.13, 2.9.7, or 2.10.3 or higher, and monitor for service stability.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Rancher service crashes
- Segmentation fault errors in logs
- Unusual memory usage patterns
Network Indicators:
- Multiple malformed requests to Rancher API/UI endpoints
- Traffic patterns suggesting buffer overflow attempts
SIEM Query:
source="rancher" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "buffer overflow" OR "service crash")