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CVE-2026-13622

HIGH 8.8

Published 2026-08-12 · Last modified 2026-08-22

A symlink following vulnerability was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler migration proxy. During live migration, virt-handler dials Unix sockets inside the target virt-launcher pod via /proc/<pid>/root/ paths using net.Dial() without symlink protection. These socket paths reside in qemu-owned directories writable by the virt-launcher user. An attacker with namespace edit and pods/exec permissions can replace a migration proxy socket with a symlink to the host CRI-O socket. Because virt-handler runs as root in the host mount namespace, absolute symlink targets resolve against the host filesystem, and the bidirectional io.Copy proxy relays attacker-controlled bytes to the container runtime, enabling full node compromise.

ELEVATED IMPACT

Severe if exploited (CVSS 8.8), but no known exploitation and low modeled probability. Patch on a normal cadence.

Exploitation likelihood

0.2%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 5th percentile

○ In CISA KEV ○ Public exploit / PoC

Impact if exploited

8.8CVSS 3.1 · HIGH

  • ConfidentialityHigh
  • IntegrityHigh
  • AvailabilityHigh

What an attacker needs

  • ⚠Access: Requires local access to the host
  • ⚠Privileges: Requires a low-privilege account
  • ✓User interaction: No user interaction needed
  • ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable

✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it

Proof of concept & exploit code

Test against your own equipment

curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-13622/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).

Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-13622/poc.json

Affected

Vendors Red Hat

Products Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.13 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.14 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.15 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.16 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.17 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.18 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.19 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.20 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.21 Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.22

Weakness (CWE)

  • CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

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

All CVSS metrics

  • HIGH 8.8 v3.1 · CNA Primary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
  • HIGH 8.8 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
    CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Advisories

Technical & other

Sources: NVD · CVE.org · EPSS