How severe is CVE-2022-0811?

CVE-2022-0811 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2022-0811?

CVE-2022-0811 affects the following packages: github.com/cri-o/cri-o (Go), github.com/cri-o/cri-o (Go), github.com/cri-o/cri-o (Go), github.com/cri-o/cri-o (Go), github.com/cri-o/cri-o (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2022-0811?

Update github.com/cri-o/cri-o to 1.19.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-0811 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2022-0811 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cri-o/cri-o, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2022-0811 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2022-0811 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2022-0811, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2022-0811?

CVE-2022-0811 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 19.0%, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2022-0811?

CVE-2022-0811 is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2022-0811 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2022-0811 was published on March 16, 2022 and was last updated on August 12, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2022-0811 — cri-o

HIGH

CVE-2022-0811 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Code Injection vulnerability in github.com/cri-o/cri-o. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/cri-o/cri-o — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Code Injection in CRI-O

Also known asGHSA-6x2m-w449-qwx7GO-2022-0354

Published

Mar 16, 2022

Updated

Aug 12, 2026

Affected

5 pkgs

Patched

5 / 5

Exploits

2 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

19.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs97th percentile — riskier than 97% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2022-0811 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 10–50% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

5 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/cri-o/cri-o🐹github.com/cri-o/cri-o🐹github.com/cri-o/cri-o🐹github.com/cri-o/cri-o🐹github.com/cri-o/cri-o

Real-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

Impact

A flaw introduced in CRI-O version 1.19 which an attacker can use to bypass the safeguards and set arbitrary kernel parameters on the host. As a result, anyone with rights to deploy a pod on a Kubernetes cluster that uses the CRI-O runtime can abuse the kernel.core_pattern kernel parameter to achieve container escape and arbitrary code execution as root on any node in the cluster.

Patches

The patches will be present in 1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2, 1.24.0

Workarounds

Users can set manage_ns_lifecycle to false, which causes the sysctls to be configured by the OCI runtime, which typically filter these cases. This option is available in 1.20 and 1.19. Newer versions don't have this option.
An admission webhook could be created to deny pods that specify a + in the sysctl value of a pod.
A PodSecurityPolicy [deprecated] could be created, specifying all sysctls as forbidden like so:

apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
  name: sysctl-psp
spec:
  forbiddenSysctls:
    - "*"

However, this option will not work if any sysctls are required by any pods in the cluster.

Credits

Credit for finding this vulnerability goes to John Walker and Manoj Ahuje of Crowdstrike. The CRI-O community deeply thanks them for the report.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in the CRI-O repo
To make a report, email your vulnerability to the private [email protected] list with the security details and the details expected for all CRI-O bug reports.

Affected Packages

5 total 5 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/cri-o/cri-o`	≥ 1.19.0&&< 1.19.6	1.19.6`go get github.com/cri-o/cri-o@v1.19.6`
🐹Go	`github.com/cri-o/cri-o`	≥ 1.20.0&&< 1.20.7	1.20.7`go get github.com/cri-o/cri-o@v1.20.7`
🐹Go	`github.com/cri-o/cri-o`	≥ 1.21.0&&< 1.21.6	1.21.6`go get github.com/cri-o/cri-o@v1.21.6`
🐹Go	`github.com/cri-o/cri-o`	≥ 1.22.0&&< 1.22.3	1.22.3`go get github.com/cri-o/cri-o@v1.22.3`
🐹Go	`github.com/cri-o/cri-o`	≥ 1.23.0&&< 1.23.2	1.23.2`go get github.com/cri-o/cri-o@v1.23.2`

Affected Products

1 product · 5 configurations

Application

cri-okubernetes

≥ 1.23.0 && < 1.23.2

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

A flaw was found in CRI-O in the way it set kernel options for a pod. Th…

github.comGithubMar 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cri-o/cri-o, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/cri-o/cri-o to 1.19.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-0811 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

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.

Red HatImportant

OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) starting from version 4.6 is affected by this vulnerability, older versions of OCP are not affected.

Workaround published by Red Hat

Red Hat has investigated whether a possible mitigation exists for this issue, and has not been able to identify a practical example. Please update the affected package as soon as possible.

Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2022-0811 (CC BY 4.0)

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.10	`cri-o-0:1.23.1-12.rhaos4.10.git1607c6e.el7`	RHSA-2022:0810
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.6	`cri-o-0:1.19.5-3.rhaos4.6.git91f8458.el7`	RHSA-2022:0866
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.7	`cri-o-0:1.20.6-11.rhaos4.7.git76ea3d0.el7`	RHSA-2022:0870
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.8	`cri-o-0:1.21.5-3.rhaos4.8.gitaf64931.el7`	RHSA-2022:0871
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.9	`cri-o-0:1.22.2-3.rhaos4.9.gitb030be8.el7`	RHSA-2022:0860

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact A flaw introduced in CRI-O version 1.19 which an attacker can use to bypass the safeguards and set arbitrary kernel parameters on the host. As a result, anyone with rights to deploy a pod on a Kubernetes cluster that uses the CRI-O runtime can abuse the `kernel.core_pattern` kernel parameter to achieve container escape and arbitrary code execution as root on any node in the cluster. ### Patches The patches will be present in 1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2, 1.24.0 ### Workarounds - Users can set manage_ns_lifecycle to false, which causes the sysctls to be configured by the