CVE-2026-121885
Podman: untrusted image labels allow auto-update to restart arbitrary systemd units
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used 6.5
Podman: untrusted image labels allow auto-update to restart arbitrary systemd units
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
CVE-2026-121885- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-807
- Updated
- 2026-11-11
EUVDEUVD-2026-121147 6.5
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
EUVD-2026-121147- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-11
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-7fhf-8vg3-7vrp 6.5
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a...
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
GHSA-7fhf-8vg3-7vrp- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-807
- Updated
- 2026-11-11
NVD 6.5
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
CVE-2026-121885- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-807
- Updated
- 2026-11-11
OSVAZL-113342No score
CVE-2026-121885 affecting package podman 5.6.1-10
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
AZL-113342- Updated
- 2026-11-12
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-121885No score
A flaw was found in Podman. An attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by supplying a container image containing crafted metadata labels. Podman's auto-update mechanism improperly trusts these image labels to determine which system services to restart. If a user runs the malicious container and auto-update processes it, arbitrary system services are restarted with the user's privileges, potentially allowing an attacker to shut down the host system when Podman runs with administrative privileges.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-121885- Updated
- 2026-11-13
Affected products
Affected packages
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, aliases, references | OSV | |
| affected, aliases, references | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV | |
| references | EUVD, NVD | |
| published | EUVD | |
| published | EUVD | |
| aliases, references | GitHub Advisories | |
| cwes, products, references, severity, title | CVE List | |
| first indexed | EUVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-121885 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published November 10, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.38%, the 32nd percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-121885
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2566844
github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/security/advisories/GHSA-55rm-rwr7-q2wr
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-121885
github.com/advisories/GHSA-7fhf-8vg3-7vrp
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-121885
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-121885