containerd CRI plugin: Host memory exhaustion through ExecSyncGHSA-5ffw-gxpp-mxpf
MEDIUMFix: containerd/containerd@c1bcabbGHSA-5ffw-gxpp-mxpf 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.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
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 |
Affected Products
debian linuxdebianfedorafedoraprojectcontainerdlinuxfoundationDetection & 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 GHSA-5ffw-gxpp-mxpf is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
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 GHSA-5ffw-gxpp-mxpf in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.