CRI-O vulnerable to /etc/passwd tampering resulting in Privilege Escalation

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2022-4318: 0.29% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 21.67 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact It is possible to craft an environment variable with newlines to add entries to a container's /etc/passwd. It is possible to circumvent admission validation of username/UID by adding such an entry. Note: because the pod author is in control of the container's /etc/passwd, this is not considered a new risk factor. However, this advisory is being opened for transparency and as a way of tracking fixes. Patches 1.26.0 will have the fix. More patches will be posted as they're available. Workarounds Additional security controls like SELinux should prevent any damage a container is able to do with root on the host. Using SELinux is recommended because this class of attack is already possible by manually editing the container's /etc/passwd References

Published by the source

29 Dec 2022, 01:49 UTC

Last modified by the source

3 May 2024, 20:28 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:04 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-cm9x-c3rh-7rc4

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-4318

Advisory: CRI-O vulnerable to /etc/passwd tampering resulting in Privilege Escalation
IDs: CVE-2022-4318, GHSA-cm9x-c3rh-7rc4
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-4318 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:04 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/cri-o/cri-o 1.26.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/cri-o/cri-o: affected < 1.26.0; fixed in 1.26.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/cri-o/cri-o: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/cri-o/cri-o.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cm9x-c3rh-7rc4 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-cm9x-c3rh-7rc4 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/cri-o/cri-o >=0 <1.26.0)

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