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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.0

CVE-2023-25809 json

rootless: `/sys/fs/cgroup` is writable when cgroupns isn't unshared in runc

published 2023-03-29 3 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also GHSA-m8cg-xc2p-r3fc , GO-2023-1682 , EUVD-2023-1058

cvss
5.0
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.3%
EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 25%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

runc is a CLI tool for spawning and running containers according to the OCI specification. In affected versions it was found that rootless runc makes `/sys/fs/cgroup` writable in following conditons: 1. when runc is executed inside the user namespace, and the `config.json` does not specify the cgroup namespace to be unshared (e.g.., `(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=host`, with Rootless Docker/Podman/nerdctl) or 2. when runc is executed outside the user namespace, and `/sys` is mounted with `rbind, ro` (e.g., `runc spec --rootless`; this condition is very rare). A container may gain the write access to user-owned cgroup hierarchy `/sys/fs/cgroup/user.slice/...` on the host . Other users's cgroup hierarchies are not affected. Users are advised to upgrade to version 1.1.5. Users unable to upgrade may unshare the cgroup namespace (`(docker|podman|nerdctl) run --cgroupns=private)`. This is the default behavior of Docker/Podman/nerdctl on cgroup v2 hosts. or add `/sys/fs/cgroup` to `maskedPaths`.

Patch / fix

  • go github.com/opencontainers/runc 1.1.5
  • linuxfoundation runc 1.1.5
  • runc Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1.1.5+ds1-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2023-25809

  • runc Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 1.1.4-0ubuntu1~18.04.2
  • runc Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 1.1.4-0ubuntu1~20.04.3
  • runc Ubuntu 22.04 LTS 1.1.4-0ubuntu1~22.04.3
  • runc Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS 1.0.0~rc7+git20190403.029124da-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm4

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2023-25809

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • crit RHEL 8 3.15-3.module+el8.9.0+19243+df4d9ff2
  • criu RHEL 8 3.15-3.module+el8.9.0+19243+df4d9ff2
  • crun RHEL 8 1.8.3-1.module+el8.9.0+19098+6e7a5e3f
  • runc RHEL 8 1:1.1.5-2.module+el8.9.0+19104+fcef53a3
  • udica RHEL 8 0.2.6-4.module+el8.9.0+19098+6e7a5e3f
  • conmon RHEL 8 2:2.1.4-2.module+el8.9.0+19098+6e7a5e3f
  • podman RHEL 8 2:4.0.2-24.module+el8.9.0+19784+443be299
  • skopeo RHEL 8 2:1.6.2-8.module+el8.9.0+19104+fcef53a3

red hat advisories RHSA-2023:6938RHSA-2023:6939RHSA-2023:6380

  • runc SLES for SAP 15 SP3, SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES for SAP 15 SP1 +16 more 1.1.5-150000.41.1
  • runc SLE Module for Containers 12 1.1.5-16.29.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2023:2003-1SUSE-SU-2023:1726-1

  • govulncheck-vulndb openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.0.20250807T150727-1.1
  • runc openSUSE Tumbleweed 1.1.5-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2025:15424-1openSUSE-SU-2024:12826-1

  • crit AlmaLinux 8 3.15-3.module_el8.6.0+3137+d33c3efb
  • crit AlmaLinux 8 3.15-3.module_el8.6.0+2877+8e437bf5
  • criu AlmaLinux 8 3.15-3.module_el8.6.0+2877+8e437bf5
  • criu AlmaLinux 8 3.15-3.module_el8.6.0+3137+d33c3efb
  • crun AlmaLinux 8 1.8.3-1.module_el8.9.0+3627+db8ec155
  • runc AlmaLinux 8 1:1.1.5-2.module_el8.9.0+3627+db8ec155
  • udica AlmaLinux 8 0.2.6-4.module_el8.9.0+3627+db8ec155
  • conmon AlmaLinux 8 2:2.1.4-2.module_el8.9.0+3627+db8ec155

almalinux advisories ALSA-2023:6938ALSA-2023:6939ALSA-2023:6380

  • criu Rocky Linux 8 3.15-3.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • crun Rocky Linux 8 1.8.3-1.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • runc Rocky Linux 8 1:1.1.5-2.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • udica Rocky Linux 8 0.2.6-4.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • conmon Rocky Linux 8 2:2.1.4-2.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • podman Rocky Linux 8 2:4.0.2-24.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • buildah Rocky Linux 8 1:1.24.6-7.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297
  • libslirp Rocky Linux 8 4.4.0-1.module+el8.9.0+1445+07728297

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2023:6938RLSA-2023:6939

  • runc Alpine 3.17 1.1.5-r0
  • runc Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +4 more 1.1.4-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2023-25809

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • moby-runc CBL-Mariner 2.0 1.1.5-1

azure linux advisories AZL-25851

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2023-25809 updated cvss 6.3

runc: Rootless runc makes `/sys/fs/cgroup` writable

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 runc Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 runc
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 runc, atomic-openshift, atomic-openshift-pod, atomic-openshift-node, atomic-openshift-tests, atomic-openshift-master, +8 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 runc, openshift, openshift-clients, openshift-kubelet, openshift-hyperkube, openshift4/ose-tests, +4 more
    affected: workaround, no fix available
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) crit 3.15-3.module+el8.9.0+19243+df4d9ff2, crit 3.18-4.module+el8.9.0+19090+d2921118, criu 3.15-3.module+el8.9.0+19243+df4d9ff2, criu 3.18-4.module+el8.9.0+19090+d2921118, crun 1.8.3-1.module+el8.9.0+19098+6e7a5e3f, crun 1.8.7-1.module+el8.9.0+19731+94cfa27e, +60 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2023:6938
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) runc 1.1.9-1.el9
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2023:6380
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 openshift4/ose-vsphere-csi-driver-syncer-rhel8 v4.13.0-202304190216.p0.g6f4295b.assembly.stream
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2023:1326
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 microshift, microshift-olm, microshift-sriov, microshift-multus, microshift-selinux, openshift4/ose-pod, +14 more Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13 openshift4/ose-cli v4.13.0-202304190216.p0.g92b1a3d.assembly.stream, openshift4/ose-pod v4.13.0-202304211155.p0.gb404935.assembly.stream, openshift4/ose-etcd v4.13.0-202304190216.p0.gf70da9d.assembly.stream, openshift4/ose-tests v4.13.0-202305031828.p0.g893ae57.assembly.stream, openshift4/ose-console v4.13.0-202305031828.p0.ga551d28.assembly.stream, openshift4/ose-coredns v4.13.0-202304190216.p0.g5560e4a.assembly.stream, +174 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
20 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.32% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 25% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/security/advisories/GHSA-m8cg-xc2p-r3fc referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
NVD 3.1 6.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
GitHub 3.1 2.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
go github.com/opencontainers/runc
<1.1.5
1.1.5

Affected products

  • opencontainers runc

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-281 Improper Preservation of Permissions

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.