CVE-2026-77176: Kata-containers: insufficient validation of createcontainer mount and storage rules in genpolicy
A flaw was found in Kata Containers. In configurations utilizing genpolicy for Confidential Containers guest protection, a malicious host operator can exploit insufficient validation of CreateContainer mount and storage rules. This allows them to mount arbitrary container-rootfs paths over sensitive host locations or provision arbitrary content, potentially exposing confidential information or enabling the acceptance of attacker-controlled input.
Other sources
In Kata Containers configurations that use genpolicy for Confidential Containers guest protection, insufficient validation of CreateContainer mount and storage rules allows a malicious host operator to craft CreateContainer requests that cause arbitrary container-rootfs paths to be mounted over host-provided locations (such as /etc/hostname, /etc/hosts, /etc/resolv.conf, Kubernetes/Azure service-account token paths, and other volume mounts), or to provision arbitrary content under /dev/shm and /dev/termination-log. Applications that treat those paths as non-sensitive or guest-only may expose confidential information or accept attacker-controlled input. Standard Kata sandboxing is not affected.
— Red Hat
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which deployments are exposed to this issue?
The issue affects Kata Containers configurations that use genpolicy for Confidential Containers guest protection. The provided information does not establish that deployments outside this configuration are affected.
What level of attacker access is required?
Exploitation requires a malicious host operator. The attacker can abuse insufficient validation of CreateContainer mount and storage rules.
What could an attacker achieve?
An attacker may mount arbitrary container-rootfs paths over sensitive host locations or provision arbitrary content. This can expose confidential information or cause acceptance of attacker-controlled input.