Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Kata Containers versions before 4.0.0 may let a low-privileged pod user run attacker-controlled software as root on the host. Exploitation requires setting a configuration-path annotation and placing a malicious configuration file where the host can access it. This can break container isolation and compromise the underlying host.
Executive priority
Treat this as an immediate remediation priority on affected multi-tenant or externally managed clusters because exploitation can cross the container boundary and execute as host root. Confirm exposure promptly, upgrade to 4.0.0 or later, and apply compensating access restrictions where upgrades cannot be completed immediately.
Technical view
kata-runtime accepts the io.katacontainers.config_path pod annotation without restricting its host file path. It then loads the referenced TOML configuration. An attacker able to place a host-visible file can select an attacker-controlled hypervisor or virtio-fs daemon binary, resulting in root-level host code execution. Version 4.0.0 fixes the issue.
Likely exposure
Exposure exists where Kata Containers earlier than 4.0.0 processes untrusted pod annotations and pod users can place files at host-visible paths. The source bundle does not establish whether common deployments satisfy both prerequisites. Multi-tenant environments or platforms allowing users to submit pod specifications warrant urgent review.
Exploitation context
The issue is remotely reachable in the CVSS model, requires low privileges, and needs no user interaction. Successful exploitation also requires a host-visible attacker-controlled file. The source bundle reports no CISA KEV listing and provides no evidence of active exploitation or a public exploit.
Researcher notes
The vulnerable trust boundary combines an unrestricted annotation-supplied path with security-sensitive TOML options controlling executable locations. CWE-20 and CWE-22 are assigned. The supplied CVSS 3.1 score is 9.6 with changed scope, high confidentiality and integrity impact, and no scored availability impact. No CPE identifiers were supplied.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Kata Containers to version 4.0.0 or later.
- Prioritize hosts running workloads submitted by untrusted or lower-privileged users.
- Until upgraded, prevent untrusted users from supplying the affected annotation.
- Consult the Kata Containers advisory for additional vendor guidance and deployment considerations.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Kata Containers and kata-runtime versions across every cluster and host.
- Identify installations running versions earlier than 4.0.0.
- Review pod specifications for io.katacontainers.config_path annotations.
- Determine whether pod users can place files at paths visible to affected hosts.
- After remediation, verify all deployed runtime versions are 4.0.0 or later.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-22: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-50540 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N3.15.8GitHub_MVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.6CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgwCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.