Summary
Containerd has image-pull DoS via crafted OCI index graph amplification
Workarounds
There are no known workarounds for this issue. Users are advised to only pull trusted images from known registries until the patch can be applied.
Credits
The containerd project would like to thank Jakub Ciolek at ElevenLabs and @jlgore 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]
Impact
A vulnerability exists in containerd's image pull handlers where a crafted OCI image index containing deeply nested or heavily fanned-out descriptor graphs can cause unbounded CPU and memory consumption. During the PullImage operation, the recursive traversal and processing of child descriptors lack sufficient depth and breadth limits, and fail to adequately deduplicate identical descriptors. This unbounded traversal leads to excessive resource allocation.
Consequently, pulling a malicious image reference can result in prolonged stalls during container creation and significant resource pressure on the host system. This issue occurs entirely during the image pull phase, prior to any container execution.
Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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This bug has been fixed in containerd 2.4.1, 2.3.6, 2.2.9, 2.0.13, and 1.7.36. Users should update to these versions to resolve the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-53493? CVE-2026-53493 is a medium-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in github.com/containerd/containerd/v2 (go), affecting versions >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.13. It is fixed in 2.0.13, 1.7.36, 2.2.9, 2.3.6, 2.4.1. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
- Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-53493?
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2(go) (versions >= 2.0.0, < 2.0.13)github.com/containerd/containerd(go) (versions <= 1.7.35)
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53493? Yes. CVE-2026-53493 is fixed in 2.0.13, 1.7.36, 2.2.9, 2.3.6, 2.4.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-53493 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-53493 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-53493 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-53493?
- Upgrade
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2to 2.0.13 or later - Upgrade
github.com/containerd/containerdto 1.7.36 or later - Upgrade
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2to 2.2.9 or later - Upgrade
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2to 2.3.6 or later - Upgrade
github.com/containerd/containerd/v2to 2.4.1 or later
- Upgrade