CVE-2021-36783 | Rancher: Failure to properly sanitize credentials in cluster template answers

A Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerability in SUSE Rancher allows authenticated Cluster Owners, Cluster Members, Project Owners and Project Members to read credentials, passwords and API tokens that have been stored in cleartext and exposed via API endpoints. This issue affects: SUSE Rancher Rancher versions prior to 2.6.4; Rancher versions prior to 2.5.13.

Published: 2022-09-07 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-36783 is rated Moderate Risk (55.6/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.63%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-36783

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.48% 0.63% +0.15%
2 2025-12-28 0.39% 0.48% +0.09%
3 2025-12-27 0.39%

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-36783

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.9 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.1 6.0 [email protected]
9.9 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.1 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-36783

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-36783

GHSA-8w87-58w6-hfv8 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: go — Rancher doesn't properly sanitize credentials in cluster template answers

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-36783

vendor priority summary link
suse critical https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-36783/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-36783

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
suse rancher >= 2.5.0, < 2.5.13 cpe:2.3:a:suse:rancher:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse rancher >= 2.6.0, < 2.6.4 cpe:2.3:a:suse:rancher:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-36783

cvelogic Threat Intelligence