Inspektor Gadget: Unprivileged container can crash USDT note parser via crafted ELF (no shipped gadget affected)

Exploitation

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

CVSS 4.0

2.9 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-44778: 0.63% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 50.22 (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.

Summary A malicious container can crash or destabilize the privileged Inspektor Gadget process when a gadget using USDT probes is deployed. The vulnerability is in the USDT note parser (pkg/uprobetracer/usdt.go) which is invoked when a gadget with a SEC("usdt/...") section attaches to a target binary. An unprivileged process can place a crafted ELF binary at the expected library path, triggering one of two attack vectors: 1. Panic (immediate crash): A stapsdt note with a small DescSize causes an out-of-bounds slice access, panicking the IG process. 2. Memory exhaustion (OOM kill): A stapsdt note with a very large NameSize or DescSize causes IG to allocate up to ~4 GiB of memory, which can killnthe process if deployed with memory restrictions (e.g., cgroup limits). Important: The vulnerability is only triggered when running a gadget that uses USDT probes (i.e., contains a SEC("usdt/...") eBPF section). No gadget shipped by the Inspektor Gadget project uses USDT today. Users who deploy…

Published by the source

22 Jun 2026, 20:35 UTC

Last modified by the source

22 Jun 2026, 20:35 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-44778

Advisory: Inspektor Gadget: Unprivileged container can crash USDT note parser via crafted ELF (no shipped gadget affected)
IDs: CVE-2026-44778, GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-44778 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 2.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget 0.53.1. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget: affected >= 0.28.0, < 0.53.1; fixed in 0.53.1

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget: 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/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget.
- 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-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7cfq-5mhv-jrp9 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget >=0.28.0 <0.53.1)

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