CVE-2026-50540

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{"bugzilla": {"description": "kata-runtime: kata-runtime-rs: Kata Containers: Arbitrary code execution via manipulated configuration path", "id": "2500228", "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2500228"}, "csaw": false, "cvss3": {"cvss3_base_score": "8.8", "cvss3_scoring_vector": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H", "status": "draft"}, "cwe": "CWE-20", "details": ["A flaw was found in Kata Containers, affecting both its Rust and Go runtimes. An authenticated pod user can exploit this by setting the `io.katacontainers.config_path` annotation to an arbitrary configuration file on the host. This allows the attacker to control privileged runtime settings, leading to the execution of malicious binaries as root on the host system. The primary consequence is arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges."], "name": "CVE-2026-50540", "package_state": [{"cpe": "cpe:/a:redhat:confidential_compute_attestation:1", "fix_state": "Affected", "package_name": "openshift-sandboxed-containers/osc-monitor-rhel9", "product_name": "Confidential Compute Attestation"}, {"cpe": "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4", "fix_state": "Affected", "package_name": "kata-containers", "product_name": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4"}], "public_date": "2026-07-20T12:00:00Z", "references": ["https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50540\nhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50540\nhttps://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgw"], "statement": "This is an Important flaw in Kata Containers that allows an authenticated pod user to achieve arbitrary code execution as root on the host. By manipulating the `io.katacontainers.config_path` annotation, an attacker can point to a malicious configuration file, leading to a critical bypass of container isolation and privilege escalation within OpenShift Container Platform deployments.", "threat_severity": "Important"}

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