CVE-2026-24054
CVE-2026-24054 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Katacontainers Kata Containers with a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-754.
Key facts
- Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 10.0)
- CVSS v4: 8.8
- EPSS exploit prediction: 0% (35th percentile)
- Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
- EU (EUVD) id: EUVD-2026-4958
- Weakness: CWE-754
- Affected product: Katacontainers Kata Containers
- Published:
- Last modified:
Description
Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. In versions prior to 3.26.0, when a container image is malformed or contains no layers, containerd falls back to bind-mounting an empty snapshotter directory for the container rootfs. When the Kata runtime attempts to mount the container rootfs, the bind mount causes the rootfs to be detected as a block device, leading to the underlying device being hotplugged to the guest. This can cause filesystem-level errors on the host due to double inode allocation, and may lead to the host's block device being mounted as read-only. Version 3.26.0 contains a patch for the issue.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-24054?
- Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. In versions prior to 3.26.0, when a container image is malformed or contains no layers, containerd falls back to bind-mounting an empty snapshotter directory for the container rootfs. When the Kata runtime attempts to mount the container rootfs, the bind mount causes the rootfs to be detected as a block device, leading to the underlying device being hotplugged to the guest. This can cause filesystem-level errors on the host due to double inode allocation, and may lead to the host's block device being mounted as read-only. Version 3.26.0 contains a patch for the issue.
- How severe is CVE-2026-24054?
- CVE-2026-24054 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 10.0, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity high, and availability high.
- Is CVE-2026-24054 being actively exploited?
- It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 0% (35th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- What products are affected by CVE-2026-24054?
- CVE-2026-24054 affects Katacontainers Kata Containers. See the affected-products list for the exact vulnerable versions.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-24054?
- Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
- Does CVE-2026-24054 have an EU (EUVD) identifier?
- Yes. CVE-2026-24054 is tracked in the ENISA EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD) as EUVD-2026-4958.
- When was CVE-2026-24054 published?
- CVE-2026-24054 was published on 2026-01-29 and last updated on 2026-06-17.
References
- https://github.com/containerd/containerd/blob/d939b6af5f8536c2cae85e919e7c40070557df0e/plugins/snapshots/overlay/overlay.go#L564-L581
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/a164693e1afead84cd01d5bc3575e2cbfe64ce35/src/runtime/virtcontainers/container.go#L1122-L1126
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/c7d0c270ee7dfaa6d978e6e07b99dabdaf2b9fda/src/runtime/virtcontainers/container.go#L1616-L1623
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/20ca4d2d79aa5bf63aa1254f08915da84f19e92a
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-5fc8-gg7w-3g5c
Affected products (1)
- cpe:2.3:a:katacontainers:kata_containers:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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