CVE-2022-31030 containerd CRI plugin: Host memory exhaustion through ExecSync
A bug in containerd's CRI plugin allows containers to exhaust host memory via ExecSync, causing denial of service to other workloads.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2022-31030?
CVE-2022-31030 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 6 Jun 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
containerd is an open source container runtime. A bug was found in the containerd's CRI implementation where programs inside a container can cause the containerd daemon to consume memory without bound during invocation of the `ExecSync` API. This can cause containerd to consume all available memory on the computer, denying service to other legitimate workloads. Kubernetes and crictl can both be configured to use containerd's CRI implementation; `ExecSync` may be used when running probes or when executing processes via an "exec" facility. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.6 and 1.5.13. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. Users unable to upgrade should ensure that only trusted images and commands are used.
Weakness: CWE-400
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-31030?
5 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/containerd/containerd. It affects 3 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.5.13, 1.6.6 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.5.13 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.5.13 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | From 1.6.0 | 1.6.6 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | From 1.6.0 | 1.6.6 |
Linux distribution packages (1)
containerd openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.6.6-1.1 |
Products include Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Linuxfoundation Containerd.
How do I fix CVE-2022-31030?
Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd to a fixed version for your release line: 1.5.13 or 1.6.6.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2022-31030 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-31030 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux
Sources
Also known as AZL-9918, CLEANSTART-2025-UG08794, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-31030, GHSA-5ffw-gxpp-mxpf, GO-2022-0482, MGASA-2022-0227 and 3 more.