CVE-2026-33414: CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') in containers podman
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. Versions 4.8.0 through 5.8.1 contain a command injection vulnerability in the HyperV machine backend in pkg/machine/hyperv/stubber.go, where the VM image path is inserted into a PowerShell double-quoted string without sanitization, allowing $() subexpression injection. Because PowerShell evaluates subexpressions inside double-quoted strings before executing the outer command, an attacker who can control the VM image path through a crafted machine name or image directory can execute arbitrary PowerShell commands with the privileges of the Podman process. On typical Windows installations this means SYSTEM-level code execution, and only Windows is affected as the code is exclusive to the HyperV backend. This issue has been patched in version 5.8.2.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
Podman, a tool for managing OCI containers and pods, versions 4.8.0 through 5.8.1 contain a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the HyperV backend implementation. The vulnerability occurs in pkg/machine/hyperv/stubber.go where the VM image path is embedded unsanitized into a PowerShell double-quoted string, enabling $() subexpression injection. PowerShell evaluates these subexpressions before executing the outer command, allowing an attacker who can control the VM image path (via crafted machine name or image directory) to execute arbitrary commands with Podman process privileges. On Windows, this typically results in SYSTEM-level code execution. The vulnerability is exclusive to Windows due to the HyperV backend and was patched in Podman version 5.8.2.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows an attacker with the ability to control the VM image path to execute arbitrary PowerShell commands with SYSTEM-level privileges on Windows systems running affected Podman versions. This could lead to full system compromise. The vulnerability is limited to Windows environments using the HyperV backend. No known exploits in the wild have been reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade Podman to version 5.8.2 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched. No other mitigation or temporary workaround is indicated in the available data.
CVE-2026-33414: CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') in containers podman
Description
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. Versions 4.8.0 through 5.8.1 contain a command injection vulnerability in the HyperV machine backend in pkg/machine/hyperv/stubber.go, where the VM image path is inserted into a PowerShell double-quoted string without sanitization, allowing $() subexpression injection. Because PowerShell evaluates subexpressions inside double-quoted strings before executing the outer command, an attacker who can control the VM image path through a crafted machine name or image directory can execute arbitrary PowerShell commands with the privileges of the Podman process. On typical Windows installations this means SYSTEM-level code execution, and only Windows is affected as the code is exclusive to the HyperV backend. This issue has been patched in version 5.8.2.
CVSS v4.0
Score 4.0medium
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
Podman, a tool for managing OCI containers and pods, versions 4.8.0 through 5.8.1 contain a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the HyperV backend implementation. The vulnerability occurs in pkg/machine/hyperv/stubber.go where the VM image path is embedded unsanitized into a PowerShell double-quoted string, enabling $() subexpression injection. PowerShell evaluates these subexpressions before executing the outer command, allowing an attacker who can control the VM image path (via crafted machine name or image directory) to execute arbitrary commands with Podman process privileges. On Windows, this typically results in SYSTEM-level code execution. The vulnerability is exclusive to Windows due to the HyperV backend and was patched in Podman version 5.8.2.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows an attacker with the ability to control the VM image path to execute arbitrary PowerShell commands with SYSTEM-level privileges on Windows systems running affected Podman versions. This could lead to full system compromise. The vulnerability is limited to Windows environments using the HyperV backend. No known exploits in the wild have been reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade Podman to version 5.8.2 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched. No other mitigation or temporary workaround is indicated in the available data.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-03-19T17:02:34.171Z
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 69dec76b82d89c981f15e825
Added to database: 4/14/2026, 11:02:03 PM
Last enriched: 4/22/2026, 6:27:22 AM
Last updated: 5/31/2026, 1:21:51 AM
Views: 91
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