vulnerability / NVI-00020087 / Revision 1
Kata Container has CopyFile Policy Subversion via Symlinks
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers. 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.
8.2 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/kata-containers/kata-containers
source listed< 0.0.0-20260422180503-1b9e49eb2763
### Summary An oversight in the CopyFile policy (and perhaps the CopyFile handler) allows untrusted hosts to write to arbitrary locations inside the guest workload image. This can be used to overwrite binaries inside the guest and exfiltrate data from containers; even those running inside CVMs. ### Details Here is the policy that covers CopyFile requests. ``` CopyFileRequest if { print("CopyFileRequest: input.path =", input.path) check_directory_traversal(input.path) some regex1 in policy_data.request_defaults.CopyFileRequest regex2 := replace(regex1, "$(sfprefix)", policy_data.common.sfprefix) regex3 := replace(regex2, "$(cpath)", policy_data.common.cpath) regex4 := replace(regex3, "$(bundle-id)", "[a-z0-9]{64}") print("CopyFileRequest: regex4 =", regex4) regex.match(regex4, input.path) print("CopyFileRequest: true") } ``` This checks that files are being copied to `policy_data.common.cpath`, which is typically set to `/run/kata-containers/shared/containers`. In other words, you're allowed to copy files to anywhere inside the shared dir. For reference, here is the CopyFile message. Note that none of the other fiel
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-q49m-57vm-c8cc ↗
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.