CVE-2026-50540 Kata Containers: Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading
An attacker can execute arbitrary code as root on the host by supplying a malicious configuration path annotation to the Kata Containers runtime.
- 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-2026-50540?
CVE-2026-50540 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in kata-containers, published on 7 Aug 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. Prior to version 4.0.0, kata-runtime is vulnerable to host code execution via an unvalidated configuration path annotation. The runtime accepts an arbitrary io.katacontainers.config_path pod annotation and loads the referenced host TOML file without restriction. As a result, a pod user who can place a file at a host-visible path can supply a configuration that selects an attacker-controlled hypervisor or virtio-fs daemon binary, executing code as root on the host. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-50540?
How do I fix CVE-2026-50540?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-50540 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-50540 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-94610, AZL-94622, AZL-94679, AZL-94682, GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgw, OESA-2026-3405 and 2 more.