Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2024-1753

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-18

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

89/100

Remediation priority · High

No privileges

Official description

NVD · unedited

A flaw was found in Buildah (and subsequently Podman Build) which allows containers to mount arbitrary locations on the host filesystem into build containers. A malicious Containerfile can use a dummy image with a symbolic link to the root filesystem as a mount source and cause the mount operation to mount the host root filesystem inside the RUN step. The commands inside the RUN step will then have read-write access to the host filesystem, allowing for full container escape at build time.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Buildah and Podman Build allow containers to mount arbitrary host filesystem locations into build containers. A malicious Containerfile can use a dummy image containing a symbolic link pointing to the host root filesystem as a mount source, causing the host root to be mounted inside the build container's RUN step with read-write access, enabling full container escape.

MitigationDo not build Containerfiles from untrusted sources. Update Buildah and Podman to patched versions that properly validate mount sources and prevent symlink traversal. Consider using rootless builds and additional container security hardening.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges: None
User interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

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

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Identify installed Buildah version

Run 'buildah --version' to get the Buildah version number

Affected if The version is older than the patched release that addresses CVE-2024-1753 (compare to vendor advisory)
Identify installed Podman version

Run 'podman --version' to get the Podman version number

Affected if The version is older than the patched release that addresses CVE-2024-1753 (compare to vendor advisory)
Check for recent build activity with untrusted Containerfiles

Review build logs or examine recently built containers using 'podman ps -a' or 'buildah images' to identify containers built from potentially untrusted sources

Affected if Containers were built from untrusted Containerfiles that may contain volume mount instructions pointing to host paths
Inspect Containerfiles for mount source patterns

Examine any Containerfiles from untrusted sources for 'VOLUME' instructions or '--volume'/'-v' flags pointing to host directories, especially those using symlinks in the path

Affected if Containerfiles contain volume mount instructions that could traverse to host root filesystem via symlinks

You are affected if you have Buildah or Podman versions prior to the patched releases AND have built containers from untrusted Containerfiles containing symlink-based volume mounts.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

From vendor data

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Do not build Containerfiles from untrusted sources. Update Buildah and Podman to patched versions that properly validate mount sources and prevent symlink traversal. Consider using rootless builds and additional container security hardening.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation6.0 h
Implementation8.0 h
Testing8.0 h
Review / QA4.0 h

26.0 hours of engineering $4,560

Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,296.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-1753 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-1753 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2024-1753?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here

Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 8.6 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 0.5%

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Have this fixed 26 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $4,560

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2024-1753 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

Check your environment

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References