{"timestamp":"2026-06-25T23:04:34.331359Z","id":"CVE-2026-13201","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"partial"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream helpers operate via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to cause virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to an unintended host path.

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to redirect virt-handler's IPC socket connections, including the notify socket used for VM domain lifecycle events. By hijacking this socket, the attacker can inject arbitrary domain events into virt-handler, causing it to take incorrect lifecycle actions, corrupt VM state in the Kubernetes API, or crash — resulting in sustained denial of VM management services for all virtual machines on the affected node. Additionally, the same symlink following flaw allows virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to unintended host paths.

AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H

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

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream helpers operate via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to cause virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to an unintended host path.

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

CWE-61

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-13201

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2492203

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