CVE-2026-44210 Kata Containers have VM Escape via virtiofsd Argument Injection through Default-Enabled Pod Annotations
Attackers can escape VMs and access host files by injecting arguments into virtiofsd via default-enabled pod annotations in Kata Containers.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-44210?
CVE-2026-44210 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in kata-containers, published on 23 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Versions prior to 3.31.0 ship with a default configuration that allows pod creators to inject arbitrary command-line arguments into the virtiofsd process through the `io.katacontainers.config.hypervisor.virtio_fs_extra_args` pod annotation. By injecting `-o source=/` along with `--no-announce-submounts` and `--sandbox=none`, an attacker can override the virtiofsd shared directory to serve the entire host root filesystem into the guest VM. Combined with the `kernel_params` annotation (also enabled by default) to activate the agent debug console, the attacker can mount the host filesystem from inside the VM and read or write any file on the host, including /etc/shadow. Version 3.31.0 patches the issue.
Weakness: CWE-88
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44210?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers Go | All versions | 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 |
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers Go | All versions | 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 |
github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers Go | All versions | 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 |
Products include Katacontainers Kata Containers.
How do I fix CVE-2026-44210?
Upgrade github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers to 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78 or later.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2026-44210 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44210 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in kata-containers
Sources
Also known as AZL-93063, AZL-93066, GHSA-rr59-xxvx-96qr, GO-2026-5638.