CVE-2020-15257: containerd is an industry-standard container runtime and is available as a daemon for Linux and Windows. In containerd before versions 1.3.9 and 1.4.3...

Description

containerd is an industry-standard container runtime and is available as a daemon for Linux and Windows. In containerd before versions 1.3.9 and 1.4.3, the containerd-shim API is improperly exposed to host network containers. Access controls for the shim’s API socket verified that the connecting process had an effective UID of 0, but did not otherwise restrict access to the abstract Unix domain socket. This would allow malicious containers running in the same network namespace as the shim, with an effective UID of 0 but otherwise reduced privileges, to cause new processes to be run with elevated privileges. This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.3.9 and 1.4.3. Users should update to these versions as soon as they are released. It should be noted that containers started with an old version of containerd-shim should be stopped and restarted, as running containers will continue to be vulnerable even after an upgrade. If you are not providing the ability for untrusted users to start containers in the same network namespace as the shim (typically the "host" network namespace, for example with docker run --net=host or hostNetwork: true in a Kubernetes pod) and run with an effective UID of 0, you are not vulnerable to this issue. If you are running containers with a vulnerable configuration, you can deny access to all abstract sockets with AppArmor by adding a line similar to deny unix addr=@**, to your policy. It is best practice to run containers with a reduced set of privileges, with a non-zero UID, and with isolated namespaces. The containerd maintainers strongly advise against sharing namespaces with the host. Reducing the set of isolation mechanisms used for a container necessarily increases that container's privilege, regardless of what container runtime is used for running that container.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1

5.2/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS Probability

3.24%

86.7th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

Vendor	Product	Versions
Linuxfoundation	Containerd	< 1.3.9
Linuxfoundation	Containerd	>= 1.4.0, < 1.4.3
Fedoraproject	Fedora	33
Debian	Debian Linux	10.0

References

https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/4a4bb851f5da563ff6e68a83dc837c7699c469adPatch, Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.4.3Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/containerd/containerd/security/advisories/GHSA-36xw-fx78-c5r4Mitigation, Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LNKXLOLZWO5FMAPX63ZL7JNKTNNT5NQD/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-33Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4865Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/4a4bb851f5da563ff6e68a83dc837c7699c469adPatch, Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v1.4.3Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/containerd/containerd/security/advisories/GHSA-36xw-fx78-c5r4Mitigation, Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LNKXLOLZWO5FMAPX63ZL7JNKTNNT5NQD/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-33Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4865Third Party Advisory

Timeline

Published: Dec 1, 2020
Last Modified: Jun 17, 2026
Status: Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-15257?

containerd is an industry-standard container runtime and is available as a daemon for Linux and Windows. In containerd before versions 1.3.9 and 1.4.3, the containerd-shim API is improperly exposed to host network containers. Access controls for the shim’s API socket verified that the connecting process had an effective UID of 0, but did not otherwise restrict access to the abstract Unix domain socket. This would allow malicious containers running in the same network namespace as the shim, with an effective UID of 0 but otherwise reduced privileges, to cause new processes to be run with elevated privileges. This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.3.9 and 1.4.3. Users should update to these versions as soon as they are released. It should be noted that containers started with an old version of containerd-shim should be stopped and restarted, as running containers will continue to be vulnerable even after an upgrade. If you are not providing the ability for untrusted users to start containers in the same network namespace as the shim (typically the "host" network namespace, for example with docker run --net=host or hostNetwork: true in a Kubernetes pod) and run with an effective UID of 0, you are not vulnerable to this issue. If you are running containers with a vulnerable configuration, you can deny access to all abstract sockets with AppArmor by adding a line similar to deny unix addr=@**, to your policy. It is best practice to run containers with a reduced set of privileges, with a non-zero UID, and with isolated namespaces. The containerd maintainers strongly advise against sharing namespaces with the host. Reducing the set of isolation mechanisms used for a container necessarily increases that container's privilege, regardless of what container runtime is used for running that container.

How severe is CVE-2020-15257?

CVE-2020-15257 has a CVSS score of 5.2/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 3.24% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix CVE-2020-15257?

Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.