REDHAT-BUG-2492681: Low severity KubeVirt vulnerability

Published Jun 25, 2026
·
Updated

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's downward metrics virtio-serial server in virt-handler. The server reads guest requests using textproto.Reader.ReadLine() in pkg/downwardmetrics/virtio-serial/server.go, which buffers input indefinitely until a newline character is received, with no length limit or read deadline. The server is started from dmetrics-manager.go and wired into the virt-handler process at cmd/virt-handler/virt-handler.go — it runs inside virt-handler's address space, not in the per-VM virt-launcher pod. A VM guest writing a continuous byte stream without newlines to the downward-metrics virtio-serial channel causes unbounded heap allocation in virt-handler until it is OOM-killed. Affected image: virt-handler-rhel9. Upstream fix should wrap the reader in io.LimitedReader with a small cap and add a per-read deadline.

Affected Software

1 affected component
KubeVirt

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Compensating control

    Apply the upstream code fix to virt-handler downward-metrics virtio-serial server (pkg/downwardmetrics/virtio-serial/server.go) by wrapping the textproto.Reader input with an io.LimitedReader (small cap) and adding a per-read deadline, to prevent unbounded heap allocation when the guest writes a continuous byte stream without newlines.

Event History

Jun 25, 2026
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·09:28 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of REDHAT-BUG-2492681?

The severity of REDHAT-BUG-2492681 is classified as low.

2

What flaw is identified in REDHAT-BUG-2492681?

REDHAT-BUG-2492681 identifies a flaw in KubeVirt's virtio-serial server where it reads guest requests indefinitely until a newline character is received.

3

What software is affected by REDHAT-BUG-2492681?

KubeVirt is the software affected by REDHAT-BUG-2492681.

4

How can I mitigate the issue described in REDHAT-BUG-2492681?

Mitigation for REDHAT-BUG-2492681 can include applying updates as they become available, and reviewing the configuration of KubeVirt's virtio-serial server.

5

What should I do if I suspect exploitation of REDHAT-BUG-2492681?

If you suspect exploitation of REDHAT-BUG-2492681, it is important to monitor system logs and isolate affected environments while addressing the vulnerability.

Contact

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