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
How to mitigate CVE-2026-55686
Install security update from vendor's website.
Podman - update to 5.7.1