Vulnerability in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (CVE-2026-95838)
Summary
Vulnerability in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (CVE-2026-95838). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 2.3.5 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Impact
A vulnerability exists in containerd's layer unpack handler where the processing of certain image layers causes superlinear time complexity. During the unpack operation, specific file configurations within the layer can trigger repeated directory traversals.
Consequently, pulling or importing a maliciously crafted image can result in increased unpack times and a moderate increase in CPU usage. This delays container startup, even if the compressed image layers are small. Additionally, in orchestrators like Kubernetes that apply concurrency limits to image pulls, these excessively long operations can reduce the available concurrency for other pulls, potentially delaying unrelated container deployments.
Patches
This bug has been fixed in containerd 2.3.5, 2.2.8, 2.0.12, and 1.7.35. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds for this issue. Users are advised to only pull and import trusted images from known registries until the patch can be applied.
Credits
The containerd project would like to thank Jakub Ciolek of AlphaSense 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 [security@containerd.io](m…
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-95838 has been found in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to 2.3.5 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 CVE-2026-95838" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-95838 (github.com/containerd/containerd/v2) — CWE-400
Patched: 2.3.5 — apply immediately
Workaround: There are no known workarounds for this issue.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-400) exists in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of github.com/containerd/containerd/v2.
Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to 2.3.5.
Workaround: There are no known workarounds for this issue.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'github.com/containerd/containerd/v2' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'github.com/containerd/containerd/v2' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2を grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply temporary workaround mitigate
There are no known workarounds for this issue.パッチが適用されるまでの応急処置として、There are no known workarounds for this issue. を実施。回避策の副作用 (機能低下) を確認した上で。
-
3Apply patch patch
Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to 2.3.5ステージング環境で 2.3.5 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
4Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。