CVE-2021-20188 is a high-severity (CVSS 7) CWE-863 vulnerability in github.com/containers/libpod. A fix is available for github.com/containers/libpod — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Authorization in github.com/containers/libpod
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-20188 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/containers/libpodReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A flaw was found in podman before 1.7.0. File permissions for non-root users running in a privileged container are not correctly checked. This flaw can be abused by a low-privileged user inside the container to access any other file in the container, even if owned by the root user inside the container. It does not allow to directly escape the container, though being a privileged container means that a lot of security features are disabled when running the container. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/containers/libpod | all versions | 1.7.0go get github.com/containers/libpod@v1.7.0 |
Affected Products
podmanpodman_projectenterprise linuxredhatopenshift container platformredhatDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/containers/libpod, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/containers/libpod to 1.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-20188 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 (OCP) has previously packaged podman, but instead now relies on the version from rhel-extras. The older version previously packaged is marked as wontfix. This issue did not affect the versions of podman provided in the Container Tools module, stream rhel8, as shipped in Red Hat…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extras | podman-0:1.6.4-29.el7_9 | RHSA-2021:0681 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | container-tools:rhel8-8020120200601155013.ffd2803a | RHSA-2020:3053 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | container-tools:1.0-8030020210301104616.830d479e | RHSA-2021:0705 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | container-tools:2.0-8030020210302075156.830d479e | RHSA-2021:0706 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Extended Update Support | container-tools:2.0-8020020210301124311.28c38760 | RHSA-2021:0710 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-20188 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.