CVE-2024-25621 containerd affected by a local privilege escalation via wide permissions on CRI directory
Local attackers can escalate privileges due to overly broad default permissions on containerd runtime directories.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2024-25621?
CVE-2024-25621 is a high-severity vulnerability in containerd, published on 6 Nov 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
containerd is an open-source container runtime. Versions 0.1.0 through 1.7.28, 2.0.0-beta.0 through 2.0.6, 2.1.0-beta.0 through 2.1.4 and 2.2.0-beta.0 through 2.2.0-rc.1 have an overly broad default permission vulnerability. Directory paths `/var/lib/containerd`, `/run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri` and `/run/containerd/io.containerd.sandbox.controller.v1.shim` were all created with incorrect permissions. This issue is fixed in versions 1.7.29, 2.0.7, 2.1.5 and 2.2.0. Workarounds include updating system administrator permissions so the host can manually chmod the directories to not have group or world accessible permissions, or to run containerd in rootless mode.
Weakness: CWE-279
Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-25621?
10 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 and github.com/containerd/containerd. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | All versions | 2.0.7, 2.1.5, 2.2.0 |
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | All versions | 2.0.7 |
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | All versions | 2.0.7 |
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | From 2.1.0-beta.0 | 2.1.5 |
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | From 2.1.0-beta.0 | 2.1.5 |
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | From 2.2.0-beta.0 | 2.2.0 |
4 more packages
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 Go | From 2.2.0-beta.0 | 2.2.0 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.7.29 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.7.29 |
github.com/containerd/containerd Go | All versions | 1.7.29 |
Products include Linuxfoundation Containerd.
How do I fix CVE-2024-25621?
Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to a fixed version for your release line: 2.0.7, 2.1.5 or 2.2.0.
Is CVE-2024-25621 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-25621 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in containerd
- CVE-2026-53488 containerd CRI — image-config `LABEL` flows to restart-monitor `binary://` logger: host-root command execution from an image pull
- CVE-2026-53492 containerd CRI checkpoint restore CDI annotation smuggling
- CVE-2026-53489 containerd: Arbitrary host CRI log file read via symlink following in CRI checkpoint restore
- CVE-2025-47290 Containerd vulnerable to host filesystem access during image unpack
- CVE-2026-46680 containerd user ID handling bypass allows runAsNonRoot evasion
Sources
Also known as AZL-69734, AZL-69808, AZL-69812, AZL-69815, BELL-CVE-2024-25621, CLEANSTART-2026-EF16612 and 158 more.