Kata Containers: Unauthorized mem-agent ttRPC methods let an untrusted host tamper with confidential-guest memory

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-64676
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-07 22:16:59 UTC
Updated2026-08-07 22:16:59 UTC
DescriptionKata Containers is an open source implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. In versions prior to 4.0.0, the kata-agent is vulnerable to an authorization bypass in confidential-guest memory management. In Confidential Containers (CoCo) deployments, the kata-agent enforces an OPA/Rego-based AgentPolicy that must authorize every ttRPC API call, forming the security boundary that prevents an untrusted host from directing the confidential guest. Two ttRPC methods introduced with the mem-agent feature are missing this authorization check, so an untrusted host can invoke them unconditionally regardless of the guest's policy configuration. When mem-agent is enabled (off by default), this lets the host tamper with in-guest memory management by forcing swap, aggressive eviction, or compaction, resulting in attacker-controlled availability and performance degradation of the confidential workload entirely outside the agent-policy boundary. The impact does not include memory disclosure or code execution, and severity is bounded by the precondition that mem-agent must be explicitly enabled. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.7 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-862 | CWE-862 CWE-862: Missing Authorization

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5.7MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L
3.1CNADECLARED5.7MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

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

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-h8jv... [email protected] github.com
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