How severe is GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w has a CVSS score of 7.3/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w affects the following packages: github.com/containerd/containerd (Go), github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go), github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go), github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

Update github.com/containerd/containerd to 1.7.29 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w in my Go dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.1%, placing it in the 4th 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 indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w?

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w is classified as CWE-279 (CWE-279). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w was published on November 6, 2025 and was last updated on February 4, 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

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w

HIGH

containerd affected by a local privilege escalation via wide permissions on CRI directory

Also known asCVE-2024-25621GO-2025-4100

Published

Nov 6, 2025

Updated

Feb 4, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

4 / 4

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk4th percentile+0.14%

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

4 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/containerd/containerd🐹github.com/containerd/containerd/v2🐹github.com/containerd/containerd/v2🐹github.com/containerd/containerd/v2

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

An overly broad default permission vulnerability was found in containerd.

/var/lib/containerd was created with the permission bits 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700
- Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the metadata store and the content store
/run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri was created with 0o755, while it should be created with 0o700
- Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the contents of Kubernetes local volumes. The contents of volumes might include setuid binaries, which could allow a local user on the host to elevate privileges on the host.
/run/containerd/io.containerd.sandbox.controller.v1.shim was created with 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700

The directory paths may differ depending on the daemon configuration. When the temp directory path is specified in the daemon configuration, that directory was also created with 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700.

Patches

This bug has been fixed in the following containerd versions:

2.2.0
2.1.5
2.0.7
1.7.29

Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue. These updates automatically change the permissions of the existing directories.

[!NOTE]

/run/containerd and /run/containerd/io.containerd.runtime.v2.task are still created with 0o711. This is an expected behavior for supporting userns-remapped containers.

Workarounds

The system administrator on the host can manually chmod the directories to not have group or world accessible permisisons:

chmod 700 /var/lib/containerd
chmod 700 /run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri
chmod 700 /run/containerd/io.containerd.sandbox.controller.v1.shim

An alternative mitigation would be to run containerd in rootless mode.

Credits

The containerd project would like to thank David Leadbeater for responsibly disclosing this issue in accordance with the containerd security policy.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in containerd
Email us at [email protected]

To report a security issue in containerd:

Report a new vulnerability

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd`	all versions	1.7.29
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd/v2`	all versions	2.0.7
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd/v2`	≥ 2.1.0-beta.0&&< 2.1.5	2.1.5
🐹Go	`github.com/containerd/containerd/v2`	≥ 2.2.0-beta.0&&< 2.2.0	2.2.0

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/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 1.7.29 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w 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 GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w 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 GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact An overly broad default permission vulnerability was found in containerd. - `/var/lib/containerd` was created with the permission bits 0o711, while it should be created with 0o700 - Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the metadata store and the content store - `/run/containerd/io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri` was created with 0o755, while it should be created with 0o700 - Allowed local users on the host to potentially access the contents of Kubernetes local volumes. The contents of volumes might include setuid binaries, which could allow a local user on the host to

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w

EPSS Exploitation Probability

Blast Radius

Description

Impact

Patches

Workarounds

Credits

For more information

Affected Packages

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

How O3 protects you

Frequently Asked Questions

Is GHSA-pwhc-rpq9-4c8w in your dependencies?