CVE-2026-24834Public exploit

Guest-root code execution via writable virtio-pmem

Published Feb 19, 2026 · Updated Feb 19, 2026

Privilege escalation in Kata Containers before 3.27.0 allows local users in a container to execute arbitrary code as root in the guest VM. With Cloud Hypervisor, Kata exposes the guest image through writable /dev/pmem devices because virtio-pmem never marks its pagemap region read-only. A container process needs CAP_MKNOD and filesystem-offset knowledge to replace a guest binary; writes are nonpersistent and do not reach the host or sibling workloads.

CVSS severity9.3
Critical
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Kata Containers before 3.27.0 allows local users in a container to execute arbitrary code as root in the guest VM. With Cloud Hypervisor, Kata exposes the guest image through writable /dev/pmem devices because virtio-pmem never marks its pagemap region read-only. A container process needs CAP_MKNOD and filesystem-offset knowledge to replace a guest binary; writes are nonpersistent and do not reach the host or sibling workloads.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-24834
Published
Feb 19, 2026
Updated
Feb 19, 2026
Vendor
Kata Containers
Product
Kata Containers
Classifications
CWE-281, CWE-732, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 19, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 19, 2026Record 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=< 3.27.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Kata Containers · Kata Containersversion=< 3.27.0

Published CVSS scores

9.3Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
9.3GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-281Improper Preservation of Permissions
CWE-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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