CVE-2022-31030 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in github.com/containerd/containerd. A fix is available for github.com/containerd/containerd — see the affected versions and patch details below.
containerd CRI plugin: Host memory exhaustion through ExecSync
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.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2022-31030 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
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
Impact
A bug was found in containerd's CRI implementation where programs inside a container can cause the containerd daemon to consume memory without bound during invocation of the ExecSync API. This can cause containerd to consume all available memory on the computer, denying service to other legitimate workloads. Kubernetes and crictl can both be configured to use containerd's CRI implementation; ExecSync may be used when running probes or when executing processes via an "exec" facility.
Patches
This bug has been fixed in containerd 1.6.6 and 1.5.13. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.
Workarounds
Ensure that only trusted images and commands are used.
References
- Similar fix in cri-o's CRI implementation https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/security/advisories/GHSA-fcm2-6c3h-pg6j
Credits
The containerd project would like to thank David Korczynski and Adam Korczynski of ADA Logics for responsibly disclosing this issue in accordance with the containerd security policy during a security audit sponsored by CNCF and facilitated by OSTIF.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in containerd
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/containerd/containerd | all versions | 1.5.13go get github.com/containerd/containerd@v1.5.13 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/containerd/containerd | ≥ 1.6.0&&< 1.6.6 | 1.6.6go get github.com/containerd/containerd@v1.6.6 |
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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/containerd/containerd to 1.5.13 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-31030 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2022-31030 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-31030. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-31030 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-31030 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.