CVE-2026-55686Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Host filesystem modification via WORKDIR symlink following

Published Jun 26, 2026 · Updated Jun 26, 2026

Symlink following in Podman 3.0.0 through 5.7.0 allows remote attackers to create host directories through a malicious image WORKDIR. Container.resolveWorkDir resolves the image-supplied WORKDIR through symlinks and then passes the resolved host path to MkdirAll and SafeChown. The image must be run; directory creation is deterministic, while changing ownership requires a concurrent untrusted host process to win a dereference race.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.37%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Symlink following in Podman 3.0.0 through 5.7.0 allows remote attackers to create host directories through a malicious image WORKDIR. Container.resolveWorkDir resolves the image-supplied WORKDIR through symlinks and then passes the resolved host path to MkdirAll and SafeChown. The image must be run; directory creation is deterministic, while changing ownership requires a concurrent untrusted host process to win a dereference race.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-55686
Published
Jun 26, 2026
Updated
Jun 26, 2026
Vendor
Podman Container Tools
Product
Podman
Classifications
CWE-61, T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 26, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 26, 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=>= 3.0.0, < 5.7.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Podman Container Tools · Podmanversion=>= 3.0.0, < 5.7.1

Published CVSS scores

5.3GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

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)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-61UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
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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