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KubevirtApplication

CVE-2025-64433

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.5.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

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.

NVD · unedited
KubeVirt is a virtual machine management add-on for Kubernetes. Prior to 1.5.3 and 1.6.1, a vulnerability was discovered that allows a VM to read arbitrary files from the virt-launcher pod's file system. This issue stems from improper symlink handling when mounting PVC disks into a VM. Specifically, if a malicious user has full or partial control over the contents of a PVC, they can create a symbolic link that points to a file within the virt-launcher pod's file system. Since libvirt can treat regular files as block devices, any file on the pod's file system that is symlinked in this way can be mounted into the VM and subsequently read. Although a security mechanism exists where VMs are executed as an unprivileged user with UID 107 inside the virt-launcher container, limiting the scope of accessible resources, this restriction is bypassed due to a second vulnerability. The latter causes the ownership of any file intended for mounting to be changed to the unprivileged user with UID 107 prior to mounting. As a result, an attacker can gain access to and read arbitrary files located within the virt-launcher pod's file system or on a mounted PVC from within the guest VM. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.3 and 1.6.1.

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.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-22

A file path is built from user input without being confined, so sequences like “../” let an attacker step outside the intended directory. That can expose configuration, credentials, or source code, and in the worst case lets an attacker write files where they shouldn't. A durable fix resolves and canonicalises the path, then rejects anything that escapes a known-safe base directory.

General guidance for the path traversal class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
KubevirtApplication
Affected:< 1.5.3= 1.6.0

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.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.5.3 or later
Fixed in 1.5.3
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

KubeVirt 1.6.1 (or 1.5.3 if staying on the 1.5 release line)

  1. Identify the currently installed KubeVirt version in your Kubernetes cluster using `kubectl get kubevirt -n kubevirt -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.version}'`
  2. Upgrade KubeVirt to version 1.5.3 or 1.6.1 (or later if available) using the KubeVirt operator: `kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/releases/download/v1.6.1/kubevirt-operator.yaml` followed by `kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/releases/download/v1.6.1/kubevirt-cr.yaml`
  3. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking the KubeVirt deployment status: `kubectl get kubevirt -n kubevirt`
  4. Ensure all virt-launcher pods are running the new version by checking pod versions in namespaces containing VMs
Caveat Review KubeVirt release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and the target version before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

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

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-64433 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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