CVE-2026-53495
containerd CRI ExecSync Goroutine Leak Leading to Node-Level Denial of Service
Description
containerd is an open-source container runtime. Prior to 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5, containerd on Linux with the CRI plugin enabled can indefinitely block the drainExecSyncIO goroutine in internal/cri/server/container_execsync.go when CRI ExecSync is used by exec probes or lifecycle hooks that launch long-lived background child processes retaining standard input and output pipes. The input and output drain phase has no default timeout and did not stop when the request context was canceled, so repeated ExecSync invocations can accumulate blocked goroutines and host memory. The resulting resource exhaustion can cause the OOM killer to terminate containerd, leaving the container runtime unavailable until restart. Deployments not using containerd's CRI implementation and containers not running on Linux are not affected. This issue is fixed in versions 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5.
INFO
Published Date :
Sept. 14, 2026, 6:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
Sept. 14, 2026, 6:17 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 | |||||
| CVSS 4.0 | MEDIUM | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update containerd to version 2.3.5, 2.2.8, 2.0.12, or 1.7.35.
- Avoid long-lived background processes in exec probes.
- Ensure lifecycle hooks do not launch background processes.
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-2026-53495.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-53495 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-2026-53495
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).
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The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-53495 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-53495 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.
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New CVE Received by [email protected]
Sep. 14, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description containerd is an open-source container runtime. Prior to 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5, containerd on Linux with the CRI plugin enabled can indefinitely block the drainExecSyncIO goroutine in internal/cri/server/container_execsync.go when CRI ExecSync is used by exec probes or lifecycle hooks that launch long-lived background child processes retaining standard input and output pipes. The input and output drain phase has no default timeout and did not stop when the request context was canceled, so repeated ExecSync invocations can accumulate blocked goroutines and host memory. The resulting resource exhaustion can cause the OOM killer to terminate containerd, leaving the container runtime unavailable until restart. Deployments not using containerd's CRI implementation and containers not running on Linux are not affected. This issue is fixed in versions 1.7.35, 2.0.12, 2.2.8, and 2.3.5. Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Added CWE CWE-400 Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53495.json">CVE-2026-53495</a> Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/22ccf4314d1fe0834f8e28f10d37d5305ef9880c Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/5a2a3a759b0d2ad8c821b33c3afc20890daf6d81 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/9ec55f024041d0641f6d79841e45c8781141ddaa Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/eebea8c4c912f44b656c8295c9e6607a19b76650 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/commit/ff39a972369e2f12fae561a58d658bbf8f2bc318 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.0.12 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.2.8 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/releases/tag/v2.3.5 Added Reference https://github.com/containerd/containerd/security/advisories/GHSA-7jxh-36q5-gcqv -
CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Sep. 14, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-53495', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'none'}, {'automatable': 'no'}, {'technicalImpact': 'partial'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-09-14T17:33:20.990571Z'}