CVE-2026-41579runc: Malicious image with /dev symlink can trigger limited host filesystem integrity violations
Updated under an hour ago ()
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It affects opencontainers runc and 1 other product. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.
No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.
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runc is a CLI tool for spawning and running containers according to the OCI specification. In versions prior to 1.3.6, 1.4.0-rc.1, 1.4.0-rc.12, 1.5.0-rc.1, and 1.5.0-rc.1, when setting up the container rootfs, setupPtmx and setupDevSymlinks call os.Remove and os.Symlink with a filepath.Join string which allow an image with /dev as a symlink to trick runc into deleting files called ptmx on the host or creating a hardcoded set of symlinks with specific names and targets in an arbitrary pre-existing host directory. This issue is not exploitable under Docker, because Docker creates a top-level read-only layer that masks any malicious /dev symlink present in the container image — unlike some other Linux container tooling, whose higher-level runtimes built on runc remain exposed to exploitation via a malicious image. This issue has been fixed in versions 1.3.6, 1.4.3 and 1.5.0.
- CVSS
- 3.3 LOW (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-61
- 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
- Analyzed
- Record last updated
- Jul 1, 2026
- First seen by InfoSec Signals
- Oct 9, 2026
Affected products
opencontainers runc opencontainers:runc (from the name) | before 1.3.6; from 1.4.0-rc.1, < 1.4.3; from 1.5.0-rc.1, < 1.5.0-rc.3 | CNA record |
linuxfoundation runc linuxfoundation:runc | before 1.3.6; from 1.4.0 before 1.4.3; 1.5.0; 1.5.0 | NVD |
References
- https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/security/advisories/GHSA-xjvp-4fhw-gc47x-refsource-confirm, mitigation, patch, vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/864db8042dbbx-refsource-misc, patch
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.