GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574 found in golang/github.com/containerd/containerd/v2@v2.3.1

GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574 found in golang/github.com/containerd/containerd/v2@v2.3.1

[!important]
Risk: 4.56 (Medium)
CVSS: 9.9

Description

Impact

containerd's CRI checkpoint import process contains a vulnerability where it fails to validate the image references specified within a checkpoint image's configuration. An attacker with permissions to create pods can use a crafted checkpoint image to force containerd to pull a malicious image and assign it an arbitrary local tag, thereby poisoning the node's local image cache. Subsequently, if other pods on the same node attempt to use the poisoned tag with an IfNotPresent (or Never) pull policy, they will unknowingly execute the attacker's malicious image instead of the legitimate one. This can lead to a compromise of the affected pods, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code under the victim pod's identity.

Patches

This bug has been fixed in the following containerd versions:

• 2.3.2
• 2.2.5
• 2.1.9

Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.

Workarounds

Users should only allow trusted images to be pulled.

Credits

The containerd project would like to thank Henry Beberman (@hbeberman) of Microsoft, the GKE Security Team using Gemini, Anthropic Research, in collaboration with Claude, and Robert Prast (@robertprast) who independently discovered and responsibly disclosed this issue in accordance with the containerd security policy.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Open an issue in containerd
• Email us at security@containerd.io

To report a security issue in containerd:

• Report a new vulnerability
• Email us at security@containerd.io

Affected component

The vulnerability is in pkg:golang/github.com/containerd/containerd/v2@v2.3.1, found in artifacts pkg:oci/devguard-k8s-image-inventory?repository_url=ghcr.io/l3montree-dev/devguard-k8s-image-inventory&arch=amd64&tag=main-amd64, pkg:oci/devguard-k8s-image-inventory?repository_url=ghcr.io/l3montree-dev/devguard-k8s-image-inventory&arch=arm64&tag=main-arm64.

Recommended fix

Upgrade to version v2.3.2 or later.

# Update all golang packages
go get -u ./... 
# Update only this package
go get v2@v2.3.2 

Additional guidance for mitigating vulnerabilities

Visit our guides on devguard.org

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 flowchart TD
Your_application(["Your application"]) --- pkg_golang_github_com_containerd_containerd_v2_v2_3_1(["pkg:golang/github.com/containerd/containerd/v2\@v2.3.1"])

classDef default stroke-width:2px

Interact with this vulnerability

You can use the following slash commands to interact with this vulnerability:

👍 Reply with this to acknowledge and accept the identified risk.

/accept I accept the risk of this vulnerability, because ...

⚠️ Mark the risk as false positive: Use one of these commands if you believe the reported vulnerability is not actually a valid issue.

/component-not-present The vulnerable component is not included in the artifact.

/vulnerable-code-not-present The component is present, but the vulnerable code is not included or compiled.

/vulnerable-code-not-in-execute-path The vulnerable code exists, but is never executed at runtime.

/vulnerable-code-cannot-be-controlled-by-adversary Built-in protections prevent exploitation of this vulnerability.

/inline-mitigations-already-exist The vulnerable code cannot be controlled or influenced by an attacker.

🔁 Reopen the risk: Use this command to reopen a previously closed or accepted vulnerability.

/reopen ... 

Start by locating the Go dependency manifest and the references to github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 at v2.3.1. Update the dependency to v2.3.2 or later, then run the project's dependency or vulnerability scan against the affected artifacts to confirm the advisory is resolved.