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TI-2026-36954 Aliases CVE-2026-50195GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574

containerd: CRI checkpoint import allows local image tag poisoning

Priority LOW 25CWE-345Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
Present
Impact type
Security bypass, Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · Low · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-345 and CWE-829.

Summary

containerd is an open-source container runtime. Versions prior to 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9 contain a vulnerability in the CRI checkpoint import process where it fails to validate the image references specified within a checkpoint image's configuration. An attacker with permissions to create pods can use a crafted checkpoint image to force containerd to pull a malicious image and assign it an arbitrary local tag, thereby poisoning the node's local image cache. Subsequently, if other pods on the same node attempt to use the poisoned tag with an IfNotPresent (or Never) pull policy, they will unknowingly execute the attacker's malicious image instead of the legitimate one. This can lead to a compromise of the affected pods, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code under the victim pod's identity. This issue has been fixed in versions 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00303 23rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed containerd (containerd): 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2Red Hat: 1 advisory

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
backstagecontainerd2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.5; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.22.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2Patch availableCNA
—github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go)2.1.0 to before 2.1.92.1.9Patch availableGHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
—github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go)2.2.0 to before 2.2.52.2.5Patch availableGHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
—github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go)2.3.0 to before 2.3.22.3.2Patch availableGHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
  • containerd Vendorbackstage Affected 2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.5; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.2 Fixed in 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2 Patch available CNA
  • github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected 2.1.0 to before 2.1.9 Fixed in 2.1.9 Patch available GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
  • github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.2.5 Fixed in 2.2.5 Patch available GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
  • github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected 2.3.0 to before 2.3.2 Fixed in 2.3.2 Patch available GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.5; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.2Vulnerablebackstage
  • cpe:2.3:a:linuxfoundation:containerd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; 2.2.0 to before 2.2.5; 2.3.0 to before 2.3.2 Vulnerable ·backstage

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA containerd (containerd) Fixed in 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2
  • Fix · GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574 github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Fixed in 2.1.9 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574 github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Fixed in 2.2.5 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574 github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go) Fixed in 2.3.2 Advisory →

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2026:35111 Released 2026-07-02 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images trivy-0.72.0-0.1.hum1@aarch64, trivy-0.72.0-0.1.hum1@src, trivy-0.72.0-0.1.hum1@x86_64

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Hardened ImagesFixed RHSA-2026:35111
Not affected: 42 products
  • Assisted Installer for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 2
  • Confidential Compute Attestation
  • Deployment Validation Operator
  • Gatekeeper 3
  • Kernel Module Management Operator for Red Hat Openshift
  • Logging Subsystem for Red Hat OpenShift
  • Logical Volume Manager Storage
  • MCP Server for Red Hat OpenShift
  • Machine Deletion Remediation Operator
  • Migration Toolkit for Containers
  • Migration Toolkit for Virtualization
  • Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes
  • Multicluster Global Hub
  • Node HealthCheck Operator
  • OpenShift API for Data Protection
  • OpenShift Developer Tools and Services
  • OpenShift Lightspeed
  • OpenShift Pipelines
  • OpenShift Serverless
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 2
  • OpenShift Service Mesh 3
  • Pen Drive Powered by Red Hat Lightspeed
  • Power monitoring for Red Hat OpenShift
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
  • Red Hat Build of Kueue
  • Red Hat Ceph Storage 6
  • Red Hat Ceph Storage 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
  • Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
  • Red Hat OpenShift GitOps
  • Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift for Windows Containers
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0
  • Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
  • Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer
  • Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-50195
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
  3. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

Advisory 2

Other 1

  • TI-2021-19622 Improper Preservation of Permissions in containerd CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2023-10635 containerd supplementary groups are not set up properly CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2022-07700 Insecure handling of image volumes in containerd CRI plugin CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2026-38567 Improper input validation in backstage containerd CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
  • TI-2026-38569 containerd CRI checkpoint restore CDI annotation smuggling CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2025-29820 Containerd vulnerable to host filesystem access during image unpack CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.6
See all 21 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences