vulnerability / NVI-00015110 / Revision 1
Uprobe gadgets: unprivileged container's ld.so.cache causes high CPU utilization and container startup DoS
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget. 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.
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget
source listed>= 0.27.0, < 0.53.1
## Summary An unprivileged container can block all other containers from starting on the same host by placing a crafted `/etc/ld.so.cache` file in its filesystem. When Inspektor Gadget attaches any uprobe-based gadget, it parses this file in the container startup path. A malicious cache causes ~53 seconds of CPU burn, during which Docker cannot start any other container. No special capabilities are required. ## Severity To be assessed — Availability impact, no confidentiality or integrity impact. ## Affected Versions All versions of Inspektor Gadget that support uprobe-based gadgets (trace_malloc, trace_open, trace_ssl, trace_grpc, etc.). ## Description When Inspektor Gadget attaches uprobe-based gadgets to containers, it resolves library paths by parsing the container's `/etc/ld.so.cache` file (`pkg/uprobetracer/ldcache_parser.go`). This file is fully controlled by the container. The parser has three vulnerabilities: 1. **Quadratic string building** (`pkg/uprobetracer/bytes.go:36-44`): The `readStringFromBytes` function concatenates one byte at a time (`res += string(data[i])`), which is O(n²) in Go due to string immutability. With a 16MB cache file containing large regio
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.
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04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
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- GHSA-vjhx-2cqw-3q6q ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
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Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
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