CVE-2026-41579
runc is a CLI tool for spawning and running containers according to the OCI specification. In versions prior to 1.3.6, 1.4.0-rc.1, 1.4.0-rc.12, 1.5.0-rc.1, and 1.5.0-rc.1, when setting up the container rootfs, setupPtmx and setupDevSymlinks call os.Remove and os.Symlink with a filepath.Join string which allow an image with /dev as a symlink to trick runc into deleting files called ptmx on the host or creating a hardcoded set of symlinks with specific names and targets in an arbitrary pre-existing host directory. This issue is not exploitable under Docker, because Docker creates a top-level read-only layer that masks any malicious /dev symlink present in the container image, unlike some other Linux container tooling, whose higher-level runtimes built on runc remain exposed to exploitation via a malicious image.
This issue has been fixed in versions 1.3.6, 1.4.3 and 1.5.0.
- No active-exploitation, high-EPSS, or public-exploit signals - routine patching cadence
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NATT&CK techniques
1Techniques this CVE enables. Pills with a solid outline are high confidence - named directly in ATT&CK or Nuclei, or human-curated by CTID; the rest are inferred from the weakness type using MITRE's CVE Mapping Methodology and the CWE → CAPEC chain. Broad, generic-weakness guesses are filtered out. A small N× marks a technique that N independent sources agree on.
▤ Build a SIEM detection for these techniquesCAPEC attack patterns
1Attack patterns this CVE enables - the bridge from weakness to ATT&CK technique.