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KubevirtApplication

CVE-2026-13318

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.22.0 or later.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click 8 weeks old

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
A server-side request forgery (SSRF) flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-api port-forward handler. When processing a port-forward request to a VirtualMachineInstance (VMI), virt-api reads the target IP from vmi.Status.Interfaces[0].IP and passes it directly to net.Dial() without validation. For VMIs using non-masquerade network bindings (bridge or secondary-only), this IP is reported by the QEMU guest agent running inside the VM and is fully controllable by the VM owner. An attacker with kubevirt.io:edit permissions can create a VM with a modified guest agent that reports an arbitrary IP address, then request port-forward to establish a bidirectional TCP tunnel from virt-api's cluster-internal network position to any routable destination, bypassing NetworkPolicy isolation.

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 · high confidence

KubeVirt virt-api port-forward handler has an SSRF vulnerability where it directly uses the IP address from vmi.Status.Interfaces[0].IP (reported by QEMU guest agent) in a net.Dial() call without validation. For VMIs with non-masquerade network bindings, this IP is attacker-controllable, allowing an attacker with kubevirt.io:edit permissions to establish TCP tunnels from virt-api's cluster-internal network position to arbitrary destinations.

MitigationImplement strict IP address validation before net.Dial() to ensure the target IP is from an authorized range, or enforce NetworkPolicy to restrict virt-api egress, and limit kubevirt.io:edit permissions to trusted users.

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

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:all versions
Openshift VirtualizationApplication
Affected:>= 4, <= 4.22.0

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
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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.

dbcve checks

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

  1. Identify virt-api pods in the cluster
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n kubevirt -l kubevirt.io=virt-api' to list virt-api pods
    Affected if virt-api pods exist and the KubeVirt version falls within affected ranges (all versions for Kubevirt, or OpenShift Virtualization 4.x to 4.22.0)
  2. Check for VMIs with non-masquerade network bindings
    Run 'kubectl get vmi -o jsonpath={.items[*].spec.domain.devices.interfaces[*].bridge}' to identify bridge-type interfaces, or inspect VMIs for 'binding: bridge' or 'binding: sriov' in the interfaces spec
    Affected if Any VMI has a non-masquerade binding (bridge, sriov, or similar) where the guest-reported IP could be attacker-controlled
  3. Verify if kubevirt.io:edit permissions are widely granted
    Review RBAC bindings with 'kubectl get clusterrolebinding -o json | grep -A5 kubevirt.io:edit' or check namespace-scoped rolebindings in namespaces hosting VMIs
    Affected if Users or service accounts beyond trusted administrators have kubevirt.io:edit permissions, enabling them to create/modify VMIs with malicious guest agent IPs
  4. Confirm KubeVirt version
    Run 'kubectl get kubevirt -n kubevirt kubevirt -o jsonpath={.status.observedKubeVirtVersion}' or check the kubevirt-operator deployment image version
    Affected if The installed version is all versions of Kubevirt or OpenShift Virtualization >= 4 through <= 4.22.0

Environment is affected if virt-api is running with an unpatched KubeVirt/OpenShift Virtualization version, there exist VMIs with non-masquerade network bindings, and users with kubevirt.io:edit permissions exist who could trigger the vulnerable net.Dial() code path using attacker-controlled guest agent IPs

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

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 a release after 4.22.0
Interim mitigation

Implement strict IP address validation before net.Dial() to ensure the target IP is from an authorized range, or enforce NetworkPolicy to restrict virt-api egress, and limit kubevirt.io:edit permissions to trusted users.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Openshift Virtualization > 4.22.0 (e.g., 4.23.0 or latest stable)

  1. 1. Identify the current Openshift Virtualization version by running: oc get clusterversion -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.desired.version}'
  2. 2. Check available Openshift Virtualization operators: oc get packagemanifests -n openshift-marketplace | grep virtualization
  3. 3. Upgrade Openshift Virtualization to a version greater than 4.22.0 (e.g., 4.23.0 or later) using: oc get clusterServiceVersion -n openshift-cnv -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}'
  4. 4. Apply the upgrade: oc apply -f <subscription-yaml> or use OperatorHub web console to update the OpenShift Virtualization operator
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade completed successfully: oc get pods -n openshift-cnv | grep virt-api and confirm the new version is running
  6. 6. Validate the fix by checking that port-forward requests now validate target IPs against expected VMI network bindings before establishing connections
Caveat Upgrading Openshift Virtualization may require cluster downtime and could include changes to VM definitions, storage, or networking configurations; review release notes for migration considerations

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

Fix this in Kubevirt Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2026-13318 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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