Podman: Malformed Image can trick podman run into leaking host environment variables into the container
Priority LOW 33CWE-200Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 13 fixed, 5 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-200.
Summary
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. From 1.8.1 until 5.8.4, a container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.8.4 and 6.0.0.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00437 38th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial podman (podman-container-tools): 5.8.4github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go): 5.8.4+1 more productRed Hat: 12 advisoriesRed Hat: 13 fixed, 5 without a fix
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| podman-container-tools | podman | 1.8.1 to before 5.8.4 | 5.8.4 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) | before 5.8.4 | 5.8.4 | Patch available | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
| — | go.podman.io/podman/v6 (Go) | before 6.0.0 | 6.0.0 | Patch available | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v4 (Go) | up to 4.9.5 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v3 (Go) | up to 3.4.7 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
| — | github.com/containers/podman/v2 (Go) | up to 2.2.1 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
| — | github.com/containers/podman (Go) | 1.8.1 and later | — | No fix listed | GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 |
- podman Vendorpodman-container-tools Affected 1.8.1 to before 5.8.4 Fixed in 5.8.4 Patch available CNA
- github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 5.8.4 Fixed in 5.8.4 Patch available GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- go.podman.io/podman/v6 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 6.0.0 Fixed in 6.0.0 Patch available GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- github.com/containers/podman/v4 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 4.9.5 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- github.com/containers/podman/v3 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 3.4.7 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- github.com/containers/podman/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 2.2.1 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- github.com/containers/podman (Go) Vendor— Affected 1.8.1 and later Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.8.1 to before 5.8.4 | Vulnerable | Podman Project |
| cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:6.0.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.0.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Podman Project |
- cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.8.1 to before 5.8.4 Vulnerable ·Podman Project
- cpe:2.3:a:podman_project:podman:6.0.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.0.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Podman Project
Remediation
- Fix · CNA podman (podman-container-tools) Fixed in 5.8.4
- Fix · GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 github.com/containers/podman/v5 (Go) Fixed in 5.8.4 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 go.podman.io/podman/v6 (Go) Fixed in 6.0.0 Advisory →
Red Hat 12 advisories
- RHSA-2026:70267 Released 2026-09-22 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.14.9
- Red Hat Quay 3.14 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8
- RHSA-2026:69255 Released 2026-09-21 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.16.6
- Red Hat Quay 3.16 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:63307 Released 2026-09-03 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.15.8
- Red Hat Quay 3.15 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-builder-rhel8, registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8
Show 9 more Red Hat advisories
- RHSA-2026:54395 Released 2026-08-12 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.17.4
- Red Hat Quay 3.17 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel9
- RHSA-2026:53520 Released 2026-08-11 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.10.25
- Red Hat Quay 3.10 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8
- RHSA-2026:52968 Released 2026-08-10 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.12.21
- Red Hat Quay 3.12 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8
- RHSA-2026:50931 Released 2026-08-05 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat Quay 3.9.25
- Red Hat Quay 3.9 registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8
- RHSA-2026:44232 Released 2026-07-28 · Red Hat rating CriticalOpenShift Container Platform 4.22.7 bug fix and security update
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22 rhcos-aarch64-4.22.9.8.202607220526-0, rhcos-ppc64le-4.22.9.8.202607220526-0, rhcos-s390x-4.22.9.8.202607220526-0 +1
- RHSA-2026:38504 Released 2026-07-13 · Red Hat rating Importantcontainer-tools:rhel8 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) aardvark-dns-2:1.10.1-2.module+el8.10.0+24510+6ea3880e.aarch64::container-tools:rhel8, aardvark-dns-2:1.10.1-2.module+el8.10.0+24510+6ea3880e.ppc64le::container-tools:rhel8, aardvark-dns-2:1.10.1-2.module+el8.10.0+24510+6ea3880e.s390x::container-tools:rhel8 +47
- RHSA-2026:37123 Released 2026-07-09 · Red Hat rating Importantpodman security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) podman-6:5.8.2-4.el9_8, podman-docker-6:5.8.2-4.el9_8, podman-plugins-6:5.8.2-4.el9_8 +2
- RHSA-2026:37072 Released 2026-07-09 · Red Hat rating Importantpodman security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) podman-7:5.8.2-4.el10_2, podman-docker-7:5.8.2-4.el10_2, podman-remote-7:5.8.2-4.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) podman-tests-7:5.8.2-4.el10_2
- 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: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 18.0 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:37072 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:38504 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:37123 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:37072 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | Fixed | RHSA-2026:29954 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:44232 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.10 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:53520 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.12 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:52968 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.14 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:70267 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.15 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:63307 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.16 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:69255 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.17 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:54395 |
| Red Hat Quay 3.9 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:50931 |
Not affected: 17 products
- Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
- Red Hat Developer Hub 1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5
- Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces
- Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4
- Red Hat Quay 3.10
- Red Hat Quay 3.12
- Red Hat Quay 3.14
- Red Hat Quay 3.15
- Red Hat Quay 3.16
- Red Hat Quay 3.17
- Red Hat Quay 3.9
- Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-57231
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68
- 2026-10-09 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-27 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Patch 2
More podman-container-tools vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-71934 Podman run ignores sandbox restrictions set by image annotation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
Sources
- CVE-2026-57231 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-57231 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-57231 · 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