Containerd 1.7.27 < 1.7.32 / 2.0.4 < 2.0.9 / 2.1.x < 2.2.4 / 2.3.x < 2.3.1 runAsNonRoot Bypass

critical Nessus Plugin ID 318178

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Synopsis

The version of containerd installed on the remote host is affected by a security bypass vulnerability.

Description

The version of Containerd on the remote host is 1.7.27 prior to 1.7.32, 2.0.4 prior to 2.0.9, 2.1.x prior to 2.2.4, or 2.3.x prior to 2.3.1. It is, therefore, affected by a security bypass vulnerability. A bug was found in containerd where containers launched with a numeric User directive that cannot be parsed as a 32-bit integer are incorrectly treated as a username. If a crafted image provides an /etc/passwd file mapping this large numeric string to root, the container ultimately runs as root (UID 0). This allows the Kubernetes runAsNonRoot restriction to be bypassed, causing unexpected behavior for environments that require containers to run as a non-root user.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade to Containerd version 1.7.32, 2.0.9, 2.2.4, 2.3.1 or later.

Plugin Details

Severity: Critical

ID: 318178

File Name: containerd_CVE-2026-46680.nasl

Version: 1.2

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 6/2/2026

Updated: 6/5/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 5.5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-46680

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 9.1

Temporal Score: 7.9

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:linuxfoundation:containerd

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 5/20/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/20/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-46680

IAVA: 2026-A-0506

Detections

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