CVE-2026-50540

CRITICALPre-NVD 9.69.6—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This critical-severity CVE scores 9.6 under a secondary CVSS source (NVD's own analysis pending). EPSS exploit probability: 0.4%, top 69% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, secondary
9.6EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 9.6Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Prior to version 4.0.0, kata-runtime is vulnerable to host code execution via an unvalidated configuration path annotation. The runtime accepts an arbitrary io.katacontainers.config_path pod annotation and loads the referenced host TOML file without restriction. As a result, a pod user who can place a file at a host-visible path can supply a configuration that selects an attacker-controlled hypervisor or virtio-fs daemon binary, executing code as root on the host. This issue is fixed in version 4.0.0.

CVSS v3
9.6
EG Score
9.6(medium)
EG Risk
43(Track)
EG Risk 43/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity96% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
31%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 7, 2026

Last Modified

August 12, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Aug 15, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github.
github Patch Available🟡 PoC Available

Config Path Annotation Arbitrary File Loading · Advisory · kata-containers/kata-containers · GitHub

https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/security/advisories/GHSA-mp2j-xm59-qfgw
github_commit

commit 03cc67007609 (kata-containers/kata-containers)

Fix landed in kata-containers/kata-containers commit 03cc67007609 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/commit/03cc670076099530f4e1e9cb22849afdafb20f65

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-50540(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 14× in last 7d / 30× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-08-21 02:07 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-08-20 22:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-19 18:46 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-08-19 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-18 17:25 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-08-18 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-17 16:31 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-16 16:57 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-16 05:15 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-08-16 02:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-15 01:58 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-08-15 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-13 22:44 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-08-13 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-12 23:22 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-08-12 22:21 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-08-12 14:36 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-08-12 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-11 15:14 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-08-11 03:34 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-08-11 00:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-09 16:22 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-08-09 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 5 more
  1. 2026-08-08 17:00 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-08-08 16:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-07 21:32 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-08-07 21:02 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-08-07 21:02 UTCMITRE cvelistV5first tracked

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-50540?
CVE-2026-50540 is a critical vulnerability published on August 7, 2026. Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. Prior to version 4.0.0, kata-runtime is vulnerable to host code execution via an unvalidated configuration path annotation. The runtime accepts an…
When was CVE-2026-50540 disclosed?
CVE-2026-50540 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 7, 2026, with the most recent update on August 12, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-50540 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-50540 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 68.9% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-50540?
CVE-2026-50540 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.6 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-50540?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-50540, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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