CVE-2022-23648
HIGHInsecure handling of image volumes in containerd CRI plugin
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Blast Radius
github.com/containerd/containerd🐹github.com/containerd/containerd🐹github.com/containerd/containerdReal-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
containerd is a container runtime available as a daemon for Linux and Windows. A bug was found in containerd prior to versions 1.6.1, 1.5.10, and 1.14.12 where containers launched through containerd’s CRI implementation on Linux with a specially-crafted image configuration could gain access to read-only copies of arbitrary files and directories on the host. This may bypass any policy-based enforcement on container setup (including a Kubernetes Pod Security Policy) and expose potentially sensitive information. Kubernetes and crictl can both be configured to use containerd’s CRI implementation. This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.1, 1.5.10, and 1.4.12. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/containerd/containerd | all versions | 1.4.13 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/containerd/containerd | ≥ 1.5.0&&< 1.5.10 | 1.5.10 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/containerd/containerd | ≥ 1.6.0&&< 1.6.1 | 1.6.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/containerd/containerd. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/containerd/containerd to 1.4.13 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-23648 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-23648 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-23648. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-23648 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-23648 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.