CVE-2026-50195: containerd CRI checkpoint import poisons node image cache with any tag

Medium 5.6 EPSS 0.3% containerd

containerd's CRI checkpoint import does not validate the image references inside a checkpoint image's configuration. A user who can create pods can use a crafted checkpoint image to make containerd pull a malicious image and give it an arbitrary local tag, poisoning the node's image cache. Other pods on that node that use the poisoned tag with imagePullPolicy IfNotPresent or Never then run the attacker's image, giving code execution under the victim pod's identity. The containerd project rates it critical.

• CVE-2026-50195CVE identifier
• 5.6CVSS 4.0 base score (medium)
• 0.3%EPSS: chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 23% of CVEs)
• 2026-07-01published

What do these terms mean? CVE · CVSS score · exploited (KEV) · EPSS · backported fix · all terms

Affected and fixed versions

Affected:

• containerd 2.1.0 before 2.1.9
• containerd 2.2.0 before 2.2.5
• containerd 2.3.0 before 2.3.2

Fixed in:

• containerd 2.1.9
• containerd 2.2.5
• containerd 2.3.2

Am I affected?

containerd --version
dpkg -l 'containerd*' | grep ^ii
rpm -qa | grep -i containerd
kubectl get nodes -o wide   # CONTAINER-RUNTIME column shows containerd://<version>

Patch it

Use the commands for your system. Distribution packages often keep an older version number with the fix backported, so compare with the fixed package versions in the table below, not only with the upstream version.

# Debian 11/12/13 containerd packages (1.6/1.7) are not affected per the Debian tracker.
# Docker's repository (download.docker.com) ships containerd.io 2.4.x:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade containerd.io
sudo systemctl restart containerd

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --only-upgrade containerd-app containerd-stable
sudo systemctl restart containerd

# Docker's repository (download.docker.com) ships containerd.io 2.4.x:
sudo dnf upgrade containerd.io
sudo systemctl restart containerd

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh containerd

sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update containerd

sudo dnf upgrade --releasever=latest containerd

sudo pacman -Syu

apk update && apk upgrade containerd

not supported

Upgrade containerd to 2.1.9, 2.2.5 or 2.3.2 (or later) from https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases and restart the containerd service on every node. On managed Kubernetes, upgrade node pools/images to a release that ships a fixed containerd.

General update steps for every system are on the Linux and Unix & BSD pages; after updating, see which services to restart.

Fix status in Linux distributions

From the Debian security tracker, Ubuntu CVE tracker and Red Hat Security Data API, refreshed every few hours.

If you cannot patch yet

• containerd project: only allow trusted images to be pulled (for example restrict registries and checkpoint images with an admission policy).
• Using imagePullPolicy: Always for sensitive workloads avoids relying on locally cached tags.

Related vulnerabilities

• CVE-2026-53492
• CVE-2026-53488

Sources

• containerd advisory GHSA-cvxm-645q-p574
• Ubuntu CVE-2026-50195
• Debian security tracker CVE-2026-50195
• containerd releases
• CVE-2026-50195 on CVE.org
• CVE-2026-50195 on NVD

Page generated automatically from official sources on 2026-11-03 18:05 UTC and reviewed by an editor. Always confirm with your vendor's advisory.