Vulnerability · Published Aug 7, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-50540Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading
Critical 9.6
In plain English
A critical-severity improper input validation in kata-containers from kata-containers. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.6% (higher than 49% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
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 products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| kata-containers | kata-containers | < 4.0.0 |
Weakness: CWE-20, CWE-22 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
References
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgw x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65 x_refsource_MISC
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/23/3
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/24/1