CVE-2026-121885
Podman: untrusted image labels allow auto-update to restart arbitrary systemd units
Description
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
INFO
Published Date :
Nov. 10, 2026, 3:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Nov. 10, 2026, 3:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-121885
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | 53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749 | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM | [email protected] |
Solution
- Disable the Podman auto-update feature.
- Avoid processing untrusted container images.
- Review and sanitize image metadata before processing.
- Update Podman to a version that addresses this flaw.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-121885.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-121885 | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2566844 |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-121885 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-121885
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-121885 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-121885 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Nov. 10, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CWE CWE-807 Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/121xxx/CVE-2026-121885.json">CVE-2026-121885</a> Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-121885 Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2566844