vulnerability / NVI-00013233 / Revision 1
Podman: Malformed Image can trick podman run into leaking host environment variables into the container
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for github.com/containers/podman/v5, go.podman.io/podman/v6, github.com/containers/podman/v4, github.com/containers/podman/v3, github.com/containers/podman/v2. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
7.5 high
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
github.com/containers/podman/v5
source listed< 5.8.4
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
go.podman.io/podman/v6
source listed< 6.0.0
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
github.com/containers/podman/v4
source listed<= 4.9.5
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
github.com/containers/podman/v3
source listed<= 3.4.7
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
github.com/containers/podman/v2
source listed<= 2.2.1
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
github.com/containers/podman
source listed>= 1.8.1, < 5.8.4
## Summary An container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. ## Details podman run allows `--env VAR1` or `--env VAR*` which will read the variable values from the current environment and then passes them into the container. However because the same parsing logic was reused for the image config env section that means that an image variable could also gain access to that. ## Patch That image spec requires the env variables to be in the form of `key=value`, so to address this invalid formatted variables get rejected and the container will not run. Fixed in https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/6c431b73dbf8e4b20b778644d7a80caebdb75050 ## Workaround Do not run untrusted images. Before running an image consider inspecting the config with `podman image inspect --format '{{.Config.Env}}'
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-4hq8-gpf5-8p68 ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
Public revision history
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.