9.9
CRITICAL CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-7374
Kubevirt: kubevirt virt-handler: privilege escalation and node compromise via symlink following vulnerability
Description

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler component. This vulnerability allows an authenticated OpenShift user with edit permissions in a single namespace to exploit improper symlink validation when connecting to virtual machine console sockets. By replacing the console socket with a symlink to the host's container runtime (CRI-O) socket, an attacker can hijack virt-handler's privileged connection. This enables the attacker to access any Unix socket on the host, potentially leading to full control of the node and the entire cluster.

INFO

Published Date :

May 26, 2026, 2:16 p.m.

Last Modified :

May 26, 2026, 2:16 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-7374 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.

No affected product recoded yet

CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL 53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL [email protected]
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL MITRE-CVE
Solution
Update virt-handler to fix symlink validation for console sockets.
  • Update virt-handler to the latest version.
  • Ensure proper validation of symlinks to console sockets.
  • Review access controls for OpenShift users.
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-2026-7374.

URL Resource
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-7374
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2463728
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-7374 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-2026-7374 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-2026-7374 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-7374 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]

    May. 26, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description A flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-handler component. This vulnerability allows an authenticated OpenShift user with edit permissions in a single namespace to exploit improper symlink validation when connecting to virtual machine console sockets. By replacing the console socket with a symlink to the host's container runtime (CRI-O) socket, an attacker can hijack virt-handler's privileged connection. This enables the attacker to access any Unix socket on the host, potentially leading to full control of the node and the entire cluster.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-59
    Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-7374
    Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2463728
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.