CVE-2026-13201— Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: safepath symlink following in virt-handler enables notify socket hijacking and node-level vm disruption

Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: safepath symlink following in virt-handler enables notify socket hijacking and node-level vm disruption

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. When the leaf is a symlink, the kernel dereferences it, defeating the intended no-follow protection. An attacker with access to a virt-launcher pod can exploit this to redirect virt-handler's IPC socket connections, including the notify socket used for VM domain lifecycle events. By hijacking this socket, the attacker can inject arbitrary domain events into virt-handler, causing it to take incorrect lifecycle actions, corrupt VM state in the Kubernetes API, or crash — resulting in sustained denial of VM management services for all virtual machines on the affected node. Additionally, the same symlink following flaw allows virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to unintended host paths.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H

CWE-61

KubeVirt 后置链接漏洞

KubeVirt是KubeVirt组织开源的一款用于在 Kubernetes 上直接运行和管理虚拟机的开源工具，让容器化应用和传统虚拟机工作负载可以在同一个平台上共存。 KubeVirt存在后置链接漏洞，该漏洞源于OpenAtNoFollow函数使用O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW获取文件描述符，但下游辅助函数通过/proc/self/fd/N使用链接跟随系统调用，当叶节点是符号链接时，内核取消引用它，导致绕过预期的无跟随保护，攻击者通过访问virt-launcher pod可能导致virt-handl

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