CVE-2026-44517

Received Received - Intake

Symlink Following in Buildah OCI Image Builds

Publication date: 2026-08-21

Last updated on: 2026-08-21

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description

Buildah is a tool that facilitates building OCI images. From 1.38.1 until 1.43.2 and 1.44.0, TempDirForURL in define/types.go does not securely confine Git repository subdirectories to the downloaded build context, and downloadToDirectory and stdinToDirectory can follow a Dockerfile symlink left by a partially extracted tar archive. A malicious server supplying a Git repository or tar archive can cause files outside the build context directory to be included in the context or copied into the build. This issue is fixed in versions 1.43.2 and 1.44.0.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

Probability:
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Meta Information

Published

2026-08-21

Last Modified

2026-08-21

Generated

2026-08-22

AI Q&A

2026-08-22

EPSS Evaluated

N/A

NVD

CVE-2026-44517

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
containers	buildah	From 1.38.1 (inc) to 1.43.2 (inc)
containers	buildah	1.43.2
containers	buildah	1.44.0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-22	The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

Buildah versions 1.38.1 to 1.43.2 and 1.44.0 have a vulnerability where TempDirForURL does not properly restrict Git repository subdirectories to the intended build context. Additionally, downloadToDirectory and stdinToDirectory may follow symlinks in Dockerfiles created by partially extracted tar archives. This allows a malicious server providing a Git repository or tar archive to include files outside the build context or copy them into the build.

Impact Analysis

If exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to access or modify files outside the intended build directory. This may lead to unauthorized data exposure, tampering with sensitive files, or inclusion of malicious code in the build process.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could violate compliance requirements by enabling unauthorized access to sensitive data (e.g., personal or health information) if files outside the build context are included. GDPR and HIPAA mandate strict controls over data access and integrity, which this flaw could undermine.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Buildah to version 1.43.2, 1.44.0, or later to address the vulnerability in TempDirForURL and related functions.

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