Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Some Rancher 2.x releases can recreate a default administrator account with a well-known password after restart if that account was deleted. If an attacker can reach the Rancher login surface, this could allow administrative access.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for any internet-reachable or broadly accessible Rancher deployment because compromise could expose cluster administration. Prioritize confirming version, access path, and account state.
Technical view
CVE-2019-11202 affects Rancher v2.0.0-v2.0.13, v2.1.0-v2.1.8, and v2.2.0-v2.2.1. The issue occurs when the default admin user is deleted after setup; on restart, Rancher recreates it with the default password.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where affected Rancher versions are still running, the default admin user was deleted rather than deactivated, and the Rancher UI or API is reachable by untrusted users.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation depends on a reachable affected Rancher instance, a prior deletion of the default admin user, and a subsequent restart.
Researcher notes
The CVE record is specific about affected ranges and the recreate-on-restart condition. It does not provide CVSS, CWE, confirmed exploitation, or detailed patch information in the supplied bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Deactivate the default admin user instead of deleting it.
- Review Rancher security guidance and announcements for fixed-version guidance.
- Limit Rancher administrative access to trusted networks and users.
- Check for unexpected default admin reappearance after Rancher restarts.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Rancher versions and compare against the affected version ranges.
- Confirm whether the default admin user exists, is deleted, or is deactivated.
- Review restart history for affected Rancher instances.
- Audit Rancher authentication logs for default admin login activity.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
Credential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-11202 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://forums.rancher.com/c/announcementsCVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://rancher.com/docs/rancher/v2.x/en/security/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.