Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 File Descriptor /proc/self/fd/N OpenAtNoFollow symlink

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4. Affected by this issue is the function OpenAtNoFollow of the file /proc/self/fd/N of the component File Descriptor Handler. Such manipulation leads to symlink. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-13201. The attack can only be performed from a local environment. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function OpenAtNoFollow of the file /proc/self/fd/N of the component File Descriptor Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-61. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. Impacted is integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream helpers operate 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 cause virt-handler to apply file ownership or permission changes to an unintended host path.

The advisory is available at access.redhat.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-13201 since 06/24/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/25/2026).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• Virtualization Software

Vendor

• Red Hat

Name

• OpenShift Virtualization

Version

• 4

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.redhat.com/

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