CVE-2020-15257

lowpriority · track · 32EPSS 0.031 · 88 %ileexploit · PoCDEEURUUS
grimoire priorityP1 · Urgent
Exploitable?
Public exploit
1 exploit · PoC
Likely / severe?
3.13% (88th) EPSS
CVSS 3.6 · low
Is it mine?
31 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
5 sources
cnnvd · enisa_euvd · fstec_bdu · osv

EPSS · scored 2026-10-27

containerd is an industry-standard container runtime and is available as a daemon for Linux and Windows. In containerd before versions 1.3.9 and 1.4.3, the containerd-shim API is improperly exposed to host network containers. Access controls for the shim’s API socket verified that the connecting process had an effective UID of 0, but did not otherwise restrict access to the abstract Unix domain socket. This would allow malicious containers running in the same network namespace as the shim, with an effective UID of 0 but otherwise reduced privileges, to cause new processes to be run with elevated privileges. This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.3.9 and 1.4.3. Users should update to these versions as soon as they are released. It should be noted that containers started with an old version of containerd-shim should be stopped and restarted, as running containers will continue to be vulnerable even after an upgrade. If you are not providing the ability for untrusted users to start containers in the same network namespace as the shim (typically the "host" network namespace, for example with docker run --net=host or hostNetwork: true in a Kubernetes pod) and run with an effective UID of 0, you are not vulnerable to this issue. If you are running containers with a vulnerable configuration, you can deny access to all abstract sockets with AppArmor by adding a line similar to deny unix addr=@**, to your policy. It is best practice to run containers with a reduced set of privileges, with a non-zero UID, and with isolated namespaces. The containerd maintainers strongly advise against sharing namespaces with the host. Reducing the set of isolation mechanisms used for a container necessarily increases that container's privilege, regardless of what container runtime is used for running that container.

01

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

5.2
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–medium · 3.6–5.2

v2.03.6lowAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 3.9 · impact 4.9
v3.15.2mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 2 · impact 2.7
v3.15.2mediumAV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:Nsecondary · FSTEC (BDU) RU
v3.15.2mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:Nsecondary · ENISA EU
v3.15.2mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:Nsecondary · security-advisories@github.comexploitability 2 · impact 2.7
v3.15.2mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:Nsecondary · OSV
v3.14.9mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N/E:Psecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
02

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

03

exploits (1)

Public proof-of-concept and weaponised exploit code.

04

affected products (31)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

showing 20 of 31
05

advisories (3)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • WID-SEC-W-2023-2947Docker und Kubernetes: Schwachstelle ermöglicht PrivilegieneskalationDeutsch2020-12-03csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein entfernter, authentisierter Angreifer kann eine Schwachstelle in docker und Kubernetes ausnutzen, um seine Privilegien zu erhöhen.

  • GHSA-36xw-fx78-c5r4containerd-shim API Exposed to Host Network Containers2021-05-24ghsa · osvUS

    ## Impact Access controls for the shim’s API socket verified that the connecting process had an effective UID of 0, but did not otherwise restrict access to the abstract Unix domain socket. This would allow malicious containers running in the same network namespace as the shim, with an effective UID of 0 but otherwise reduced privileges, to cause new processes to be run with elevated privileges. ### Specific Go Packages Affected github.com/containerd/containerd/cmd ## Patches This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.3.9 and 1.4.3. Users should update to these versions as soon as they are released. It should be noted that containers started with an old version of containerd-shim should be stopped and restarted, as running containers will continue to be vulnerable even after an upgrade. ## Workarounds If you are not providing the ability for untrusted users to start containers in the same network namespace as the shim (typically the "host" network namespace, for example with `docker run --net=host` or `hostNetwork: true` in a Kubernetes pod) and run with an effective UID of 0, you are not vulnerable to this issue. If you are running containers with a vulnerable configuration, you can deny access to all abstract sockets with AppArmor by adding a line similar to `deny unix addr=@**,` to your policy. It is best practice to run containers with a reduced set of privileges, with a non-zero UID, and with isolated namespaces. The containerd maintainers strongly advise against sharing namespaces with the host. Reducing the set of isolation mechanisms used for a container necessarily increases that container's privilege, regardless of what container runtime is used for running that container. ## Credits The containerd maintainers would like to thank Jeff Dileo of NCC Group for responsibly disclosing this issue in accordance with the [containerd security policy](https://github.com/containerd/project/blob/master/SECURITY.md) and for reviewing the patch. ## For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * [Open an issue](https://github.com/containerd/containerd/issues/new/choose) * Email us at security@containerd.io if you think you’ve found a security bug.

  • GO-2022-0784containerd-shim API Exposed to Host Network Containers in github.com/containerd/containerd2024-08-21vendor · osvUS

    containerd-shim API Exposed to Host Network Containers in github.com/containerd/containerd

06

also known as (6)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

07

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

09

references (30)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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