Critical 9.6Published Aug 7, 2026

CVE-2026-50540Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading

Updated under an hour ago (2026-10-19 07:23 UTC)

Does this affect you?

It affects kata-containers. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.

No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

Do this next

Start free and add your stack

Free account, 1 product

Every CVE for kata-containers

Exploited in the last 30 days

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.

CVSS: 9.6 CRITICAL (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness (CWE): CWE-20, CWE-22
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: GitHub_M
NVD analysis: Deferred
Record last updated: Aug 24, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

kata-containers kata-containers kata_containers:kata_containers (from the name)	before 4.0.0	CNA record

References

https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgwx-refsource-confirm
https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65x-refsource-misc
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/23/3
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/24/1

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.