Inspektor Gadget: Unprivileged container can crash USDT note parser via crafted ELF
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Inspektor Gadget is a set of tools and framework for data collection and system inspection on Kubernetes clusters and Linux hosts using eBPF. From 0.28.0 until 0.53.1, the USDT note parser in pkg/uprobetracer/usdt.go can allow an unprivileged container to crash or exhaust the memory of the privileged Inspektor Gadget process when a custom gadget containing a SEC("usdt/...") eBPF section attaches to a crafted ELF binary. The getUsdtInfo() function reads the .note.stapsdt section without validating that DescSize is large enough for three address fields, allowing an out-of-bounds slice operation to panic, and it uses untrusted NameSize and DescSize values for allocations that can consume gigabytes of memory. The parser also invokes debug/elf without panic recovery, allowing other malformed ELF structures to terminate the process. No gadget shipped by Inspektor Gadget uses USDT probes, so only deployments using custom USDT gadgets are affected, and the demonstrated impact is denial of service rather than code execution or privilege escalation. This issue is fixed in version 0.53.1.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| backstage | inspektor-gadget | 0.28.0 to before 0.53.1 | 0.53.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget (Go) | 0.28.0 to before 0.53.1 | 0.53.1 | Patch available | GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9 |
- inspektor-gadget Vendorbackstage Affected 0.28.0 to before 0.53.1 Fixed in 0.53.1 Patch available CNA
- github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.28.0 to before 0.53.1 Fixed in 0.53.1 Patch available GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9
Remediation
- Fix · CNA inspektor-gadget (inspektor-gadget) Fixed in 0.53.1
- Fix · GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9 github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget (Go) Fixed in 0.53.1 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-44778
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9
- 2026-10-28 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
Other 7
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/security/advisories/GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/pull/5547
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/commit/27263e50d6287891eee4d9a1cfae62681260e1a2
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/commit/aaffacc6a9e43b4de5ce8f8148e6c2d9a1ea6026
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/releases/tag/v0.53.1
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget/commit/ec69da2e00c39bc43f389f943899e5ff9c7b011a
- https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget
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- TI-2018-10499 Integer overflow in backstage kernel KEVCVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
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- TI-2021-12074 Authentication vulnerability in MOSN v.0.23.0 allows attacker to escalate privileges via… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2019-04061 runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
Sources
- CVE-2026-44778 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-44778 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-44778 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences