CVE-2025-52881VulnerabilityPublished 18 Dec 2025Updated 25 Oct 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: podman security update

Affects Red HatSource GCVE Database

Mentioned vulnerabilities

CVE-2025-58183

Authoritative record:CVE-2025-52881· High 7.3

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS base score

7.3High

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

EPSS: 0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 56% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Nov 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: 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 26 Oct 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.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC 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

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubopencontainers/runc`pkg:github/opencontainers/runc`Other threats	Affected =1.2.7 =1.3.2	Fixed in–

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AI-suggested

Red Hat has released updated podman packages that fix these vulnerabilities. Users of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support and related CodeReady Linux Builder versions should apply the provided security updates promptly. Detailed update instructions are available in the Red Hat advisory and knowledge base article https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by Red Hat beyond applying the official patches.

Description

The podman tool manages pods, container images, and containers. It is part of the libpod library, which is for applications that use container pods. Container pods is a concept in Kubernetes. Security Fix(es): * runc: container escape and denial of service due to arbitrary write gadgets and procfs write redirects (CVE-2025-52881) * golang: archive/tar: Unbounded allocation when parsing GNU sparse map (CVE-2025-58183) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Impact

The vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to escape container isolation and cause denial of service conditions. CVE-2025-52881 affects runc, a core container runtime component, enabling container escape and denial of service through arbitrary write operations and procfs write redirects. CVE-2025-58183 could cause unbounded memory allocation leading to denial of service when processing specially crafted tar archives. These issues impact container security and system stability on affected Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support systems. No known active exploitation has been reported.

Summary

This advisory covers two security vulnerabilities affecting podman and its dependencies on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support. CVE-2025-52881 is a container escape and denial of service vulnerability in runc caused by arbitrary write gadgets and procfs write redirects, potentially allowing an attacker to break container isolation. CVE-2025-58183 is an unbounded memory allocation vulnerability in the golang archive/tar package when parsing GNU sparse maps, which could lead to denial of service. Red Hat has released updated podman packages that address these issues. The advisory references Red Hat bugzilla entries and provides package updates for multiple architectures. The vendor rates the security impact as Important and recommends applying the update. No CVSS scores are provided in the advisory.

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-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #25
The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.
Requirements
Clearly specify the minimum and maximum expectations for capabilities, and dictate which behaviors are acceptable when resource allocation reaches limits.
Architecture and Design
Limit the amount of resources that are accessible to unprivileged users. Set per-user limits for resources. Allow the system administrator to define these limits. Be careful to avoid CWE-410.
Architecture and Design
Design throttling mechanisms into the system architecture. The best protection is to limit the amount of resources that an unauthorized user can cause to be expended.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
XML Ping of the Death (opens in a new tab)
Exponential Data Expansion (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data Parameter Blowup (opens in a new tab)
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads (opens in a new tab)
Oversized Serialized Data Payloads (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Aug 2026, 22:17 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-59, CWE-770

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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