CVE-2024-40635 | containerd has an integer overflow in User ID handling

containerd is an open-source container runtime. A bug was found in containerd prior to versions 1.6.38, 1.7.27, and 2.0.4 where containers launched with a User set as a `UID:GID` larger than the maximum 32-bit signed integer can cause an overflow condition where the container ultimately runs as root (UID 0). This could cause unexpected behavior for environments that require containers to run as a non-root user. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.38, 1.7.27, and 2.04. As a workaround, ensure that only trusted images are used and that only trusted users have permissions to import images.

Published: 2025-03-17 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-40635 is rated Low Risk (24.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.26%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2024-40635

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 0.05% 0.26% +0.20%
2 2026-04-25 0.01% 0.05% +0.04%
3 2025-03-18 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-40635

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.6 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.5 2.7 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-40635

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-40635

GHSA-265r-hfxg-fhmg · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — containerd has an integer overflow in User ID handling

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-40635

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2024-40635: 1 source package rows (containerd); 41 state rows across 2 repos (3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 41. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-40635
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-40635 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-2024-40635
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-40635
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-40635/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-40635 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (containerd, containerd-app), 16 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream, xenial): released 13, ignored 2, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-40635

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-40635

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linuxfoundation containerd < 1.6.38 cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linuxfoundation containerd >= 1.7.0, < 1.7.27 cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linuxfoundation containerd >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.4 cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-40635

cvelogic Threat Intelligence