CVE-2026-57231: CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in podman-container-tools podman
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. From 1.8.1 until 5.8.4, a container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.8.4 and 6.0.0.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
Podman, a tool for managing OCI containers and pods, has a vulnerability (CVE-2026-57231) affecting versions >=1.8.1 and <5.8.4. A container image that specifies an environment variable with a key but no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host environment into the container. Furthermore, if the variable key is an asterisk (*), podman passes all host environment variables into the container. This behavior can lead to unauthorized exposure of sensitive host environment variables to the container, which may be controlled by an attacker. The vulnerability is addressed in podman versions 5.8.4 and 6.0.0.
Potential Impact
An attacker can craft a malicious container image that causes podman to leak host environment variables into the container. This can result in exposure of sensitive information from the host environment to an unauthorized actor. The vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability but has a high confidentiality impact.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade podman to version 5.8.4 or later, including 6.0.0, where this vulnerability is fixed. There is no indication of alternative mitigations or temporary fixes. Patch status is not explicitly stated in the vendor advisory, but the description confirms the issue is fixed in these versions.
CVE-2026-57231: CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in podman-container-tools podman
Description
Podman is a tool for managing OCI containers and pods. From 1.8.1 until 5.8.4, a container image that contains a environment variable with just a key and no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host into the container. This is made worse by the fact that using an asterisk (*) will cause podman to pass all host variables into the container. So essentially a malicious image can exfiltrate all podman environment variables that are set in the session from where the container is launched. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.8.4 and 6.0.0.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.5high
Affected software
pkg:github/podman-container-tools/podmanRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
Podman, a tool for managing OCI containers and pods, has a vulnerability (CVE-2026-57231) affecting versions >=1.8.1 and <5.8.4. A container image that specifies an environment variable with a key but no value can trick podman into passing that variable from the host environment into the container. Furthermore, if the variable key is an asterisk (*), podman passes all host environment variables into the container. This behavior can lead to unauthorized exposure of sensitive host environment variables to the container, which may be controlled by an attacker. The vulnerability is addressed in podman versions 5.8.4 and 6.0.0.
Potential Impact
An attacker can craft a malicious container image that causes podman to leak host environment variables into the container. This can result in exposure of sensitive information from the host environment to an unauthorized actor. The vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability but has a high confidentiality impact.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade podman to version 5.8.4 or later, including 6.0.0, where this vulnerability is fixed. There is no indication of alternative mitigations or temporary fixes. Patch status is not explicitly stated in the vendor advisory, but the description confirms the issue is fixed in these versions.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-06-24T02:21:33.811Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 6a3eae476e08203f7dc7e0d8
Added to database: 06/26/2026, 16:52:23 UTC
Last enriched: 07/03/2026, 22:36:30 UTC
Last updated: 08/11/2026, 00:41:13 UTC
Views: 195
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