CVE-2026-13201: Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12 · UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
Affects Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12Source CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High.
Data as of 7 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 23% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 7 Nov 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.12 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.13 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.14 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.15 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.16 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red HatRed Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.17 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
Red Hat recommends reviewing and restricting RBAC policies to limit pod and exec permissions on virt-launcher pods to only necessary users, reducing the attacker pool able to place symlinks. Ensure SELinux is in enforcing mode to restrict file targets for ownership and permission changes. Immutable filesystem layers in RHCOS also limit modification of core OS files. Note that no current mitigation fully addresses the notify socket hijacking vector, which remains exploitable despite SELinux and filesystem immutability. Applying the vendor-provided updates in OpenShift Virtualization v4.22 images is advised once available. Monitor Red Hat advisories for official patches and updates.
Description
A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to redirect virt-handler's IPC socket connections, including the notify socket used for VM domain lifecycle events. By hijacking this socket, the attacker can inject arbitrary domain events into virt-handler, causing it to take incorrect lifecycle actions, corrupt VM state in the Kubernetes API, or crash — resulting in sustained denial of VM management services for all virtual machines on the affected node. Additionally, the same symlink following flaw allows virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to unintended host paths.
References
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-13201 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2492203 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:51031 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53671 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53684 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53728 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53797 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53826 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53655 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53721 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53763 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53838 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:80941 (opens in a new tab)