CVE-2026-53489
Linuxfoundation Containerd 2.1.0 – 2.1.9
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2026-53489 is a high-severity UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following (CWE-61) vulnerability in Linuxfoundation Containerd. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked at the 9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
No EU or UK CSIRT advisories indexed for this CVE.
Vulnerability Data
containerd is an open-source container runtime. Versions prior to 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9 contain a bug where the CRI plugin restores container.log from a checkpoint image without validating a symlinked path. This could result in reading an arbitrary file on…
more
the host via kubectl logs. This issue has been fixed in versions 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
V5.2.5
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Access enforcement must resolve the actual target of any file reference and apply authorizations to it, directly stopping symlink traversal to unauthorized objects.
Information-flow enforcement on file operations must follow the resolved target rather than the link name, blocking unauthorized data movement via symlinks.
Least-privilege restrictions on the directories that may contain links or targets reduce the set of files an attacker can reach even if a symlink is followed.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of symlink-following flaws in file-handling code.
Vulnerability identification can discover existing symlink issues but does not prevent or remediate them in code.
Least-privilege access policies can limit damage from symlink attacks but do not address the coding flaw itself.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect symlink-following vulnerabilities before deployment, covering most of the weakness.
Secure-architecture principles require safe file-handling and canonicalization, directly addressing symlink attacks.
Secure-coding standards mandate explicit symlink checks and safe open patterns, fully mitigating CWE-61.
Access-control rules can restrict which files a process may open, reducing symlink-following risk but not eliminating the underlying path-resolution flaw.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248577 OL 8 must enable kernel parameters to enforce Discretionary Access Control (DAC) on symlinks. prevents CWE-61