Link Following in Kata Runtime

Description

A malicious guest compromised before a container creation (e.g. a malicious guest image or a guest running multiple containers) can trick the kata runtime into mounting the untrusted container filesystem on any host path, potentially allowing for code execution on the host. This issue affects Kata Containers 1.11 versions earlier than 1.11.1; Kata Containers 1.10 versions earlier than 1.10.5; Kata Containers 1.9 and earlier versions.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Not specified
Published (advisory)
2022-02-15 01:57:18 UTC
Updated
2023-02-01 05:05:44 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2021-05-13 19:28:33 UTC
NVD published
2020-06-10

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.31% 53.76%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
8.8 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Affected packages (3)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
go github.com/kata-containers/runtime <= 1.9 1.9.1
go github.com/kata-containers/runtime >= 1.10.0, <= 1.10.5 1.10.6
go github.com/kata-containers/runtime = 1.11.0 1.11.1

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence