---
id: CVE-2026-50540
title: >-
  Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard
  implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like
  containers
summary: >-
  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 unvalida…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.6
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-20
  - CWE-22
published: '2026-08-07'
updated: '2026-09-09'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-09T21:02:22.660'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50540'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgw
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/23/3'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/24/1'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00606
epssPercentile: 0.46671
ingestedAt: '2026-08-23T21:53:12.409Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.