CVE-2026-44945: Cross-Cluster Impersonation Confused-Deputy Privilege Escalation
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Rancher's impersonation middleware (pkg/auth/requests/impersonate.go). An authenticated Rancher user with the default user global role can gain full administrative access to the Rancher control plane and transitively to all downstream clusters it manages.
This issue affects Rancher: from 2.11.0 before 2.11.16, from 2.12.0 before 2.12.12, from 2.13.0 before 2.13.8, and from 2.14.0 before 2.14.2.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2026-44945?
CVE-2026-44945 has a critical severity rating of 9.1.
How do I fix CVE-2026-44945?
To address CVE-2026-44945, update your Rancher installation to the latest patched version.
Who is affected by CVE-2026-44945?
CVE-2026-44945 affects authenticated Rancher users with the default global user role.
What can be exploited in CVE-2026-44945?
CVE-2026-44945 allows an authenticated user to escalate privileges and gain full administrative access to the Rancher control plane.
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2026-44945?
CVE-2026-44945 is categorized as a privilege escalation vulnerability through cross-cluster impersonation.