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GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w CVE-2024-25621 GO-2025-4100

containerd affected by a local privilege escalation via wide permissions on CRI directory

High Go
Severity
7.3 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.17%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 6.12% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-279 Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions
Fix
Available
2 packages have a fixed version

Description

Impact

An overly broad default permission vulnerability was found in containerd.

  • /var/lib/containerd was created with the permission bits 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700
    • Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the metadata store and the content store
  • /run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri was created with 0o755, while it should be created with 0o700
    • Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the contents of Kubernetes local volumes. The contents of volumes might include setuid binaries, which could allow a local user on the host to elevate privileges on the host.
  • /run/containerd/io.containerd.sandbox.controller.v1.shim was created with 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700

The directory paths may differ depending on the daemon configuration. When the temp directory path is specified in the daemon configuration, that directory was also created with 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700.

Patches

This bug has been fixed in the following containerd versions:

  • 2.2.0
  • 2.1.5
  • 2.0.7
  • 1.7.29

Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. These updates automatically change the permissions of the existing directories.

[!NOTE]

/run/containerd and /run/containerd/io.containerd.runtime.v2.task are still created with 0o711. This is an expected behavior for supporting userns-remapped containers.

Workarounds

The system administrator on the host can manually chmod the directories to not have group or world accessible permisisons:

chmod 700 /var/lib/containerd
chmod 700 /run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri
chmod 700 /run/containerd/io.containerd.sandbox.controller.v1.shim

An alternative mitigation would be to run containerd in rootless mode.

Credits

The containerd project would like to thank David Leadbeater for responsibly disclosing this issue in accordance with the containerd security policy.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

To report a security issue in containerd:

Affected versions

Go

PackageVulnerableFixed in
github.com/containerd/containerd
< 1.7.29
1.7.29
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2
< 2.0.7
2.0.7
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2
>= 2.1.0-beta.0, < 2.1.5
2.1.5
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2
>= 2.2.0-beta.0, < 2.2.0
2.2.0
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2
< 2.0.7
>= 2.1.0-beta.0, < 2.1.5
>= 2.2.0-beta.0, < 2.2.0
2.0.7
2.1.5
2.2.0

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

github.com/containerd/containerd Go → 1.7.29

go
go get github.com/containerd/containerd@v1.7.29 && go mod tidy

github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go → 2.0.7

go
go get github.com/containerd/containerd/v2@v2.0.7 && go mod tidy

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 7.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Weakness

CWE-279: Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions

While it is executing, the product sets the permissions of an object in a way that violates the intended permissions that have been specified by the user.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design, Operation: Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • Architecture and Design: Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

References

Advisories

Packages

Other links

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-rp3h-jf77-q9p4
containerd: Unpack DoS via repeated opaque whiteouts
Medium Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GO-2026-6791
containerd CRI plugin: Checkpoint restore bypasses destination security context
High Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GHSA-pg57-6jwg-q645
Containerd has image-pull DoS via crafted OCI index graph amplification
Medium Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GHSA-7jxh-36q5-gcqv
containerd: CRI ExecSync Goroutine Leak Leads to Node-Level Denial of Service
Medium Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GO-2026-5064
containerd CRI checkpoint restore CDI annotation smuggling
Critical Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GO-2026-5622
Arbitrary host CRI log file read via symlink following in CRI checkpoint restore
Medium Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GHSA-xhf5-7wjv-pqxp
containerd CRI — image-config `LABEL` flows to restart-monitor `binary://` logger: host-root command execution from an image pull
High Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
GO-2026-5338
containerd: CRI checkpoint import allows local image tag poisoning
Critical Also affects github.com/containerd/containerd
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