CVE-2026-50195

Workarounds

Users should only allow trusted images to be pulled.

Credits

The containerd project would like to thank Henry Beberman (@hbeberman) of Microsoft, the GKE Security Team using Gemini, Anthropic Research, in collaboration with Claude, and Robert Prast (@robertprast) who independently discovered and responsibly disclosed 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
• Email us at [email protected]

containerd's CRI checkpoint import process contains a vulnerability where it fails to validate the image references specified within a checkpoint image's configuration. An attacker with permissions to create pods can use a crafted checkpoint image to force containerd to pull a malicious image and assign it an arbitrary local tag, thereby poisoning the node's local image cache. Subsequently, if other pods on the same node attempt to use the poisoned tag with an IfNotPresent (or Never) pull policy, they will unknowingly execute the attacker's malicious image instead of the legitimate one. This can lead to a compromise of the affected pods, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code under the victim pod's identity.

Kodem intelligence

This bug has been fixed in the following containerd versions:

• 2.3.2
• 2.2.5
• 2.1.9

Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.

1. What is CVE-2026-50195? CVE-2026-50195 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (go), affecting versions >= 2.1.0, < 2.1.9. It is fixed in 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2.
2. Which versions of github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 are affected by CVE-2026-50195? github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (go) versions >= 2.1.0, < 2.1.9 is affected.
3. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-50195? Yes. CVE-2026-50195 is fixed in 2.1.9, 2.2.5, 2.3.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
4. Is CVE-2026-50195 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-50195 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
5. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-50195 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
6. How do I fix CVE-2026-50195?
   • Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to 2.1.9 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to 2.2.5 or later
   • Upgrade github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 to 2.3.2 or later