CVE-2026-13208

Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: virt-handler notify server trusts vmi identity from unauthenticated grpc request body

Published Jun 24, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 6.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler domain notify server. The gRPC handlers for HandleDomainEvent and HandleK8SEvent derive the VMI identity (namespace/name) solely from the request body without validating it against the connection's origin. Each virt-launcher pod connects through a per-VMI pipe socket, but no identity tag is propagated from the pipe path to the server handlers. This allows a compromised virt-launcher process to send forged domain lifecycle events for any other VMI scheduled on the same node, causing virt-handler to erroneously update that VMI's state and disrupt its lifecycle management.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

Organizations can reduce exposure by: (1) restricting pods/exec permission on virt-launcher pods via admission policies (e.g., Gatekeeper or Kyverno rules denying exec on pods with the kubevirt.io launcher label), (2) using node affinity or dedicated node pools to isolate high-security tenant workloads from untrusted tenants, and (3) monitoring for unexpected VMI state transitions via cluster alerting.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat openshift Virtualization
Vendors & Products Redhat openshift Virtualization
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler domain notify server. The gRPC handlers for HandleDomainEvent and HandleK8SEvent derive the VMI identity (namespace/name) solely from the request body without validating it against the connection's origin. Each virt-launcher pod connects through a per-VMI pipe socket, but no identity tag is propagated from the pipe path to the server handlers. This allows a compromised virt-launcher process to send forged domain lifecycle events for any other VMI scheduled on the same node, causing virt-handler to erroneously update that VMI's state and disrupt its lifecycle management.
Title Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: virt-handler notify server trusts vmi identity from unauthenticated grpc request body
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat container Native Virtualization
Weaknesses CWE-287
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:container_native_virtualization:4
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat container Native Virtualization
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
redhat
Published
Updated
Jun 25, 2026, 3:33 PM
Reserved
Jun 24, 2026, 2:53 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Jun 24, 2026, 9:16 PM
Modified
Oct 25, 2026, 10:10 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Jun 24, 2026, 12:00 AM