# CVE-2026-13201: Path traversal in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12

> An attacker in a virt-launcher pod can hijack virt-handler sockets via symlink following, causing VM state corruption and denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 12 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-91173, GHSA-rcfc-7m3g-h5xh, MINI-5v23-v4r7-4qrp, MINI-j6mw-wjm3-mw8v

## What is CVE-2026-13201?

CVE-2026-13201 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12, published on 24 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to redirect virt-handler's IPC socket connections, including the notify socket used for VM domain lifecycle events. By hijacking this socket, the attacker can inject arbitrary domain events into virt-handler, causing it to take incorrect lifecycle actions, corrupt VM state in the Kubernetes API, or crash — resulting in sustained denial of VM management services for all virtual machines on the affected node. Additionally, the same symlink following flaw allows virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to unintended host paths.

Weakness: CWE-61 (UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-13201?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Kubevirt Kubevirt, Redhat Openshift Virtualization.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-13201?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-13201 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-13201 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12

- [CVE-2020-14316](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-14316/): Privilege Escalation in kubevirt (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2022-1798](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1798/): Path Traversal vulnerability in Kubevirt (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2025-64324](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-64324/): KubeVirt Vulnerable to Arbitrary Host File Read and Write (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2023-26484](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-26484/): On a compromised KubeVirt node, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2025-64436](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-64436/): KubeVirt Excessive Role Permissions Could Enable Unauthorized VMI Migrations Between Nodes (medium 6.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-13201 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-13201 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12, published on 24 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-13201 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13201/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13201/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-13201
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-13201
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-13201

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13201/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.