Kata Containers have VM Escape via virtiofsd Argument Injection through Default-Enabled Pod Annotations

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-44210
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-23 18:16:51 UTC
Updated2026-07-23 18:22:56 UTC
DescriptionKata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Versions prior to 3.31.0 ship with a default configuration that allows pod creators to inject arbitrary command-line arguments into the virtiofsd process through the `io.katacontainers.config.hypervisor.virtio_fs_extra_args` pod annotation. By injecting `-o source=/` along with `--no-announce-submounts` and `--sandbox=none`, an attacker can override the virtiofsd shared directory to serve the entire host root filesystem into the guest VM. Combined with the `kernel_params` annotation (also enabled by default) to activate the agent debug console, the attacker can mount the host filesystem from inside the VM and read or write any file on the host, including /etc/shadow. Version 3.31.0 patches the issue.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 5.8 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-88 | CWE-88 CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary5.8MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/C...
4.0CNADECLARED5.8MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
None
Sub Conf.
High
Sub Integrity
High
Sub Availability
High

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kata-containers Kata-containers affected < 3.31.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-rr59... [email protected] github.com
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/ffa59ce3aa7877d067c9a3... [email protected] github.com
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