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CVE-2026-13201

Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: safepath symlink following in virt-handler enables notify socket hijacking and node-level vm disruption PUBLISHED

Description (CNA)

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to redirect virt-handler's IPC socket connections, including the notify socket used for VM domain lifecycle events. By hijacking this socket, the attacker can inject arbitrary domain events into virt-handler, causing it to take incorrect lifecycle actions, corrupt VM state in the Kubernetes API, or crash — resulting in sustained denial of VM management services for all virtual machines on the affected node. Additionally, the same symlink following flaw allows virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to unintended host paths.

Affected (CNA)

Vendor / productVersions
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12unaffected 1791522624 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.13unaffected 1786346596 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.14unaffected 1786309624 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.15unaffected 1786347656 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.16unaffected 1786030071 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.17unaffected 1786348529 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.18unaffected 1786130068 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.19unaffected 1786334215 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.20unaffected 1785831334 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.21unaffected 1785829701 before *
Red Hat / Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.22unaffected 1785140336 before *

CWE

CWE-61

References

ADP enrichment

CISA-ADP

No English description supplied.

No references supplied.