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Vulnerability record · CVE-2023-25809 · published 29 March 2023

CVE-2023-25809: Linuxfoundation runc vulnerability

Linuxfoundation · Runc

runc is a CLI tool for spawning and running containers according to the OCI specification. In affected versions it was found that rootless runc makes `/sys/fs/cgroup` writable in following conditons: 1. when runc is executed inside the user namespace, and the `config.json` does not specify the cgroup namespace to be unshared (e.g.., `(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=host`, with Rootless Docker/Podman/nerdctl) or 2. when runc is executed outside the user namespace, and `/sys` is mounted with `rbind, ro` (e.g., `runc spec --rootless`; this condition is very rare). A container may gain the write access to user-owned cgroup hierarchy `/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/...` on the host . Other users's cgroup hierarchies are not affected. Users are advised to upgrade to version 1.1.5. Users unable to upgrade may unshare the cgroup namespace (`(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=private)`. This is the default behavior of Docker/Podman/nerdctl on cgroup v2 hosts. or add `/sys/fs/cgroup` to `maskedPaths`.

6.3 CVSS 3.1 Medium EPSS 0.32% · top 77.6% CWE-281 · CWE-281
6.3CVSS 3.1 base score
0.32%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
4References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

runc is a CLI tool for spawning and running containers according to the OCI specification. In affected versions it was found that rootless runc makes `/sys/fs/cgroup` writable in following conditons: 1. when runc is executed inside the user namespace, and the `config.json` does not specify the cgroup namespace to be unshared (e.g.., `(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=host`, with Rootless Docker/Podman/nerdctl) or 2. when runc is executed outside the user namespace, and `/sys` is mounted with `rbind, ro` (e.g., `runc spec --rootless`; this condition is very rare). A container may gain the write access to user-owned cgroup hierarchy `/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/...` on the host . Other users's cgroup hierarchies are not affected. Users are advised to upgrade to version 1.1.5. Users unable to upgrade may unshare the cgroup namespace (`(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=private)`. This is the default behavior of Docker/Podman/nerdctl on cgroup v2 hosts. or add `/sys/fs/cgroup` to `maskedPaths`.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/0d62b950e60f6980b54fe3bafd9a9c608dc1df17 Patch
https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/security/advisories/GHSA-m8cg-xc2p-r3fc ExploitVendor Advisory
https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/0d62b950e60f6980b54fe3bafd9a9c608dc1df17 Patch
https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/security/advisories/GHSA-m8cg-xc2p-r3fc ExploitVendor Advisory

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2023-25809), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-29). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.