Paper/Archive/CVE-2026-50540

CVE-2026-50540

kata-containers kata-containers — Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading

Description · from the CVE record

Kata 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.

Affected

ProductAffectedFixed inSource
kata-containers< 4.0.0–CNA

Scores by source

GitHub_M (CNA)9.6CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
CISA ADPSSVCExploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

References

refgithub.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgwrefgithub.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65refopenwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/23/3refopenwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/24/1