# CVE-2026-13622: Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: virt-handler migration proxy follows symlinks allowing container escape to host

> Attackers can escape containers to compromise hosts by exploiting symlink following in KubeVirt's migration proxy, requiring namespace edit permissions.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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:** 12 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-95943, GHSA-4336-pf6g-hp94, SUSE-SU-2026:3604-1, openSUSE-SU-2026:12227-1

## What is CVE-2026-13622?

CVE-2026-13622 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12, published on 12 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A symlink following vulnerability was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler migration proxy. During live migration, virt-handler dials Unix sockets inside the target virt-launcher pod via /proc/<pid>/root/ paths using net.Dial() without symlink protection. These socket paths reside in qemu-owned directories writable by the virt-launcher user. An attacker with namespace edit and pods/exec permissions can replace a migration proxy socket with a symlink to the host CRI-O socket. Because virt-handler runs as root in the host mount namespace, absolute symlink targets resolve against the host filesystem, and the bidirectional io.Copy proxy relays attacker-controlled bytes to the container runtime, enabling full node compromise.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-13622?


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `kubevirt` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP7 | All versions | 1.7.4-150700.3.36.1 |
| `kubevirt1.8` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 1.8.4-6.1 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-13622?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-13622 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-13622 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-13622 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-13622 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12, published on 12 Aug 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-2026-13622 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-2026-13622/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13622/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-13622
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-13622
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-13622

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13622/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.