Podman: WORKDIR symlink traversal vulnerability
Priority MEDIUM 63CWE-61Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 8 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.
Summary
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. From 3.0.0 until 5.7.1, running a malicious container image where the WORKDIR path contains a symlink can create a directory or modify ownership on the host filesystem. Modified ownership is less likely to happen as that requires help from an untrusted/malicious process that mutates the host filesystem tree during dereferencing of the WORKDIR path, to trigger a race condition. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.7.1.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00403 34th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Partial podman (podman-container-tools): 5.7.1github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go): 5.7.1Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 1 fixed, 8 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| podman-container-tools | podman | 3.0.0 to before 5.7.1 | 5.7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) | before 5.7.1 | 5.7.1 | Patch available | GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v4 (Go) | up to 4.9.5 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v3 (Go) | up to 3.4.7 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq |
- podman Vendorpodman-container-tools Affected 3.0.0 to before 5.7.1 Fixed in 5.7.1 Patch available CNA
- github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 5.7.1 Fixed in 5.7.1 Patch available GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
- github.com/containers/podman/v4 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 4.9.5 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
- github.com/containers/podman/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 3.4.7 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0.0 to before 5.7.1 | Vulnerable | Podman Project |
- cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.0.0 to before 5.7.1 Vulnerable ·Podman Project
Remediation
- Fix · CNA podman (podman-container-tools) Fixed in 5.7.1
- Fix · GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) Fixed in 5.7.1 Advisory →
Red Hat 1 advisory
- RHSA-2026:29954 Released 2026-06-25 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Hardened Images RPMs bug fix and enhancement update
- Red Hat Hardened Images podman-5:6.0.0-1.hum1@aarch64, podman-5:6.0.0-1.hum1@src, podman-5:6.0.0-1.hum1@x86_64 +10
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:29954 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-55686
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-03 Weakness changed · GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
- 2026-11-03 1 new reference · GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq
References
Patch 1
More podman-container-tools vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-71934 Podman run ignores sandbox restrictions set by image annotation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
Sources
- CVE-2026-55686 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-55686 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q6r4-3wmg-fwcq · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-55686 · 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