CVE-2023-25809

Host cgroup writes via flawed read-only bind mount

Published Mar 29, 2023 · Updated Feb 12, 2025

Permission preservation failure in runc before 1.1.5 allows guest OS users to write the host user's cgroup hierarchy. The mountCgroupV2 fallback bind-mounts the cgroup v2 filesystem but, before the fix, does not remount it read-only after the initial bind, so read-only flags are not enforced. The flaw requires rootless execution with a shared cgroup namespace, or the rare rootless configuration outside a user namespace with /sys mounted rbind and read-only; other users' cgroups remain inaccessible.

CVSS severity2.5
Low
EPSS probability0.32%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Permission preservation failure in runc before 1.1.5 allows guest OS users to write the host user's cgroup hierarchy. The mountCgroupV2 fallback bind-mounts the cgroup v2 filesystem but, before the fix, does not remount it read-only after the initial bind, so read-only flags are not enforced. The flaw requires rootless execution with a shared cgroup namespace, or the rare rootless configuration outside a user namespace with /sys mounted rbind and read-only; other users' cgroups remain inaccessible.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-25809
Published
Mar 29, 2023
Updated
Feb 12, 2025
Vendor
Open Container Initiative
Product
runc
Classifications
CWE-281, T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 29, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 12, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 1.1.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Open Container Initiative · runcversion=< 1.1.5

Published CVSS scores

2.5GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L
2.5Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L
5.0NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
2.5SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-281Improper Preservation of Permissions
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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