CVE-2026-17113

Cri-o: cri-o: unvalidated image env var causes daemon crash

Published Aug 24, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 6 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A flaw was found in CRI-O's container-creation environment-variable handling
(`mergeEnvs` in `server/utils.go`, consumed by `setupContainerEnvironmentAndWorkdir` in
`server/container_create.go`). When a `CreateContainer` request supplies a `nil` CRI
`Envs` field, CRI-O falls back to using the target OCI image's `config.Env` entries
unfiltered, in contrast to the normal merge path, which validates each entry for a
`key=value` form before use. An OCI image whose `config.Env` contains an entry with no
`=` character (e.g. a bare `NOEQUALS` string) causes CRI-O to split that entry into a
single-element slice and then index its second element, which is out of range. This
triggers an unrecovered Go runtime panic in the `crio` daemon process, crashing it and
terminating the container-runtime service for all workloads on the node until it is
restarted.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Cri-o
Cri-o cri-o
Redhat openshift Container Platform
Vendors & Products Cri-o
Cri-o cri-o
Redhat openshift Container Platform
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

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

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in CRI-O's container-creation environment-variable handling (`mergeEnvs` in `server/utils.go`, consumed by `setupContainerEnvironmentAndWorkdir` in `server/container_create.go`). When a `CreateContainer` request supplies a `nil` CRI `Envs` field, CRI-O falls back to using the target OCI image's `config.Env` entries unfiltered, in contrast to the normal merge path, which validates each entry for a `key=value` form before use. An OCI image whose `config.Env` contains an entry with no `=` character (e.g. a bare `NOEQUALS` string) causes CRI-O to split that entry into a single-element slice and then index its second element, which is out of range. This triggers an unrecovered Go runtime panic in the `crio` daemon process, crashing it and terminating the container-runtime service for all workloads on the node until it is restarted.
Title Cri-o: cri-o: unvalidated image env var causes daemon crash
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat openshift
Weaknesses CWE-1287
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat openshift
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
redhat
Published
Updated
Oct 21, 2026, 8:12 PM
Reserved
Jul 24, 2026, 3:50 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Aug 24, 2026, 10:16 PM
Modified
Oct 21, 2026, 9:17 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Aug 24, 2026, 8:52 PM