CVE-2022-23471 | containerd CRI stream server: Host memory exhaustion through terminal resize goroutine leak

containerd is an open source container runtime. A bug was found in containerd's CRI implementation where a user can exhaust memory on the host. In the CRI stream server, a goroutine is launched to handle terminal resize events if a TTY is requested. If the user's process fails to launch due to, for example, a faulty command, the goroutine will be stuck waiting to send without a receiver, resulting in a memory leak. Kubernetes and crictl can both be configured to use containerd's CRI implementation and the stream server is used for handling container IO. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.12 and 1.5.16. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. Users unable to upgrade should ensure that only trusted images and commands are used and that only trusted users have permissions to execute commands in running containers.

Published: 2022-12-07 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-23471 is rated Moderate Risk (44.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.02%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-23471

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.26% 1.02% +0.76%
2 2026-06-02 0.24% 0.26% +0.01%
3 2026-01-01 — 0.24% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-23471

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.1 3.6 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-23471

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2022-23471

GHSA-2qjp-425j-52j9 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — containerd CRI stream server vulnerable to host memory exhaustion via terminal

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-23471

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2022-23471: 1 source package rows (containerd); 36 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 29. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-23471
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-23471 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (containerd), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-23471
gentoo normal CVE-2022-23471: 1 GLSA(s) (202401-31), 1 atom(s) (app-containers/containerd); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-23471
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-23471/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-23471 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (containerd), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, released 5, ignored 1, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-23471

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-23471

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linuxfoundation containerd < 1.5.16 cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linuxfoundation containerd >= 1.6.0, < 1.6.12 cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-23471

cvelogic Threat Intelligence