CVE-2026-44517
Description
A flaw was found in Buildah. Insecure handling of temporary directories and symlinks during the image build process, specifically within TempDirForURL, downloadToDirectory, and stdinToDirectory functions, allows a malicious server supplying a Git repository or tar archive to cause files outside the build context directory to be included or copied into the build. This could lead to a build breakout, enabling an attacker to manipulate files on the host system.
Statement
Red Hat ships Buildah as a standalone package and as a bundled dependency in Podman across RHEL, OpenShift, and RHIVOS. Versions of Buildah from 1.38.1 through 1.43.1 are affected. Older streams (RHEL 8.x, RHEL 9.2, RHEL 9.4, OpenShift 4.12–4.18) ship Buildah versions below 1.38.1 and are not affected. RHEL 9.9 and RHEL 10.3 already ship the fixed version (1.43.2 and 1.45.0 respectively).
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 6.3 | N/A | 6.3 |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | Local |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
Corrected to match upstream (GHSA/CVEORG). PR:N (attacker serves malicious repo, no target privileges needed). I:N (vulnerability reads files outside build context, does not modify host data).
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
The attacker may be able to create or overwrite critical files that are used to execute code, such as programs or libraries.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Files or Directories
The attacker may be able to overwrite or create critical files, such as programs, libraries, or important data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, appending a new account at the end of a password file may allow an attacker to bypass authentication.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories
The attacker may be able read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, by reading a password file, the attacker could conduct brute force password guessing attacks in order to break into an account on the system.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The attacker may be able to overwrite, delete, or corrupt unexpected critical files such as programs, libraries, or important data. This may prevent the product from working at all and in the case of protection mechanisms such as authentication, it has the potential to lock out product users.
Frequently Asked Questions
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