runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows attackers to overwrite the host runc binary (and…

Description

runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows attackers to overwrite the host runc binary (and consequently obtain host root access) by leveraging the ability to execute a command as root within one of these types of containers: (1) a new container with an attacker-controlled image, or (2) an existing container, to which the attacker previously had write access, that can be attached with docker exec. This occurs because of file-descriptor mishandling, related to /proc/self/exe.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

98.5% · top 0.1% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.6.

Weakness

• n/a
• CWE-78 (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-78 and its CVEs

Affected products

• n/a

  • affected n/a

References (66)

• https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/6635b4f0c6af3810594d2770f662f34ddc15b40d (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• RHSA-2019:0408 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://github.com/rancher/runc-cve (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• RHSA-2019:0401 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://github.com/docker/docker-ce/releases/tag/v18.09.2 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_19_06 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190307-0008/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• RHSA-2019:0303 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190215-runc (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://github.com/q3k/cve-2019-5736-poc (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• 46359 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
• https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/commit/0a8e4117e7f715d5fbeef398405813ce8e88558b (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2019-002/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/02/11/2 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://kubernetes.io/blog/2019/02/11/runc-and-cve-2019-5736/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2019-5736 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• 46369 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_transferred
• RHSA-2019:0304 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://github.com/Frichetten/CVE-2019-5736-PoC (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbhf03913en_us (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://brauner.github.io/2019/02/12/privileged-containers.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://www.twistlock.com/2019/02/11/how-to-mitigate-cve-2019-5736-in-runc-and-docker/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/security-bulletins#february-11-2019-runc (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• 106976 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_transferred
• https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/runcescape (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://blog.dragonsector.pl/2019/02/cve-2019-5736-escape-from-docker-and.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1121967 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• [mesos-dev] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [mesos-user] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20190323 CVE-2019-0204: Some Mesos components can be overwritten making arbitrary code execution possible. (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• https://support.mesosphere.com/s/article/Known-Issue-Container-Runtime-Vulnerability-MSPH-2019-0003 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1079 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1227 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1275 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• FEDORA-2019-bc70b381ad (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• FEDORA-2019-6174b47003 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://softwaresupport.softwaregrp.com/document/-/facetsearch/document/KM03410944 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• RHSA-2019:0975 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/cve-2019-5736-and-runc-vulnerability/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/iot-edge-fix-cve-2019-5736/ (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• [dlab-dev] 20190524 [jira] [Created] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [dlab-dev] 20190524 [jira] [Updated] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1444 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1481 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1499 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:1506 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20190628 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20190706 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20190706 Re: linux-distros membership application - Microsoft (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• USN-4048-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:2021 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• FEDORA-2019-2baa1f7b19 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• FEDORA-2019-c1dac1b3b8 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• [dlab-dev] 20190923 [jira] [Assigned] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:2245 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• openSUSE-SU-2019:2286 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20191023 Membership application for linux-distros - VMware (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20191029 Re: Membership application for linux-distros - VMware (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• GLSA-202003-21 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_transferred
• [dlab-dev] 20200525 [jira] [Deleted] (DLAB-723) Runc vulnerability CVE-2019-5736 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [geode-issues] 20200831 [jira] [Created] (GEODE-8471) Dependency security issues in geode-core-1.12 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163339/Docker-Container-Escape.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165197/Docker-runc-Command-Execution-Proof-Of-Concept.html (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
• [oss-security] 20240201 runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20240201 Re: runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred
• [oss-security] 20240202 Re: Re: runc: CVE-2024-21626: high severity container breakout attack (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_transferred

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

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Record last updated 4 Aug 2024, 20:01 UTC.