Kata guest escape: runtime-rs guest-root to host-root escape via virtiofs
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Prior to 3.31.0, the runtime-rs standalone virtio-fs path is vulnerable to a guest-root to host-root escape. In this configuration, Kata runs the host virtiofsd as root with --sandbox none --seccomp none, so an attacker with root-equivalent access inside the guest can bypass the guest virtio-fs client entirely by taking over the virtio-fs PCI device and building a virtqueue in userspace to submit raw FUSE requests directly to the host virtiofsd. A crafted FUSE_SYMLINK request whose new symlink name is an absolute host path is honored outside the configured shared directory, allowing guest root to create root-owned symlinks in sensitive host locations such as /etc/cron.d. By pointing such a symlink at a guest-controlled crontab payload reachable through a live runtime process's mount namespace, the attacker causes the host cron daemon to execute that payload as host root, crossing the Kata isolation boundary. This issue is fixed in version 3.31.0.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kata-containers | kata-containers | before 3.31.0 | 3.31.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers (Go) | before 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 | 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 | Patch available | GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227 |
- kata-containers Vendorkata-containers Affected before 3.31.0 Fixed in 3.31.0 Patch available CNA
- github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 Fixed in 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 Patch available GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:katacontainers:kata_containers:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | kata-containers |
- cpe:2.3:a:katacontainers:kata_containers:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·kata-containers
Remediation
- Fix · CNA kata-containers (kata-containers) Fixed in 3.31.0
- Fix · GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227 github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers (Go) Fixed in 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-47243
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227
References
Other 4
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/ffa59ce3aa7877d067c9a372df0c329a23a01744
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/releases/tag/3.31.0
More kata-containers vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-19382 Improper check for unusual conditions in kata-containers CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-20033 Kata Container to Guest micro VM privilege escalation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.4
- TI-2026-29927 Kata Containers: CopyFile Policy Subversion via Symlinks CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-32189 Kata Containers have VM Escape via virtiofsd Argument Injection through Default-Enabled Pod Annotations CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.8
- TI-2026-37266 Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
- TI-2020-16502 An issue was discovered in Kata Containers through 1.11.3 and 2.x through 2.0-rc1. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-47243 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-47243 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-2gv2-cffp-j227 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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