Description
A symlink following vulnerability was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler migration proxy. During live migration, virt-handler dials Unix sockets inside the target virt-launcher pod via /proc/<pid>/root/ paths using net.Dial() without symlink protection. These socket paths reside in qemu-owned directories writable by the virt-launcher user. An attacker with namespace edit and pods/exec permissions can replace a migration proxy socket with a symlink to the host CRI-O socket. Because virt-handler runs as root in the host mount namespace, absolute symlink targets resolve against the host filesystem, and the bidirectional io.Copy proxy relays attacker-controlled bytes to the container runtime, enabling full node compromise.
Published: 2026-08-12
Score: 8.8 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

Vendor Workaround

Restrict pods/exec permissions in namespaces that run virtual machines. The pods/exec RBAC permission is required for the attack — removing it from VM operator roles prevents exploitation. Additionally, enable Kubernetes audit logging and monitor for kubectl exec commands targeting virt-launcher pods, especially during live migration events.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Wed, 12 Aug 2026 21:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A symlink following vulnerability was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler migration proxy. During live migration, virt-handler dials Unix sockets inside the target virt-launcher pod via /proc/<pid>/root/ paths using net.Dial() without symlink protection. These socket paths reside in qemu-owned directories writable by the virt-launcher user. An attacker with namespace edit and pods/exec permissions can replace a migration proxy socket with a symlink to the host CRI-O socket. Because virt-handler runs as root in the host mount namespace, absolute symlink targets resolve against the host filesystem, and the bidirectional io.Copy proxy relays attacker-controlled bytes to the container runtime, enabling full node compromise.
Title Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: virt-handler migration proxy follows symlinks allowing container escape to host
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat container Native Virtualization
Weaknesses CWE-22
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:container_native_virtualization:4
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat container Native Virtualization
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


Subscriptions

Redhat Container Native Virtualization
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-12T20:46:15.766Z

Reserved: 2026-06-29T09:41:40.974Z

Link: CVE-2026-13622

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-12T21:17:35.630

Modified: 2026-08-12T21:17:35.630

Link: CVE-2026-13622

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses
  • CWE-22

    Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')