Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-50540
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-07 21:17:28 UTC
Updated2026-08-07 21:17:28 UTC
DescriptionKata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Prior to version 4.0.0, kata-runtime is vulnerable to host code execution via an unvalidated configuration path annotation. The runtime accepts an arbitrary io.katacontainers.config_path pod annotation and loads the referenced host TOML file without restriction. As a result, a pod user who can place a file at a host-visible path can supply a configuration that selects an attacker-controlled hypervisor or virtio-fs daemon binary, executing code as root on the host. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.6 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Problem Types: CWE-20 | CWE-22 | CWE-20 CWE-20: Improper Input Validation | CWE-22 CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary9.6CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED9.6CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kata-containers Kata-containers affected < 4.0.0 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9... [email protected] github.com
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j... [email protected] github.com
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