Link following in Podman - CVE-2026-55686
Published: June 18, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU134854
CSH Severity: Medium
CVSS v4: 6.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-55686
CWE-ID: CWE-59
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to modify files or directories on the host filesystem.
The vulnerability exists due to improper link resolution in WORKDIR path handling when processing a malicious container image with a symlink in the WORKDIR path. A remote attacker can run a crafted container image to modify files or directories on the host filesystem.
A race condition may also allow ownership changes on the host filesystem if an untrusted process mutates the host filesystem tree during path dereferencing.
Affected software
Podman
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing ESPOS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing LTSS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro for Rancher
SUSE Enterprise Storage
Containers Module
openSUSE Leap
podman-docker
podman-remote-debuginfo
podman-debuginfo
podman-remote
podman
podmansh
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing ESPOS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing LTSS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro for Rancher
SUSE Enterprise Storage
Containers Module
openSUSE Leap
podman-docker
podman-remote-debuginfo
podman-debuginfo
podman-remote
podman
podmansh
How to mitigate CVE-2026-55686
Install security update from vendor's website.
Podman - update to 5.7.1
podman-docker - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-remote-debuginfo - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-debuginfo - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-remote - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podmansh - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-docker - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-remote-debuginfo - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-debuginfo - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman-remote - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podman - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1
podmansh - addressed in versions 4.9.5-150300.9.83.1, 4.9.5-150400.4.79.1, 4.9.5-150500.3.78.1