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Inspektor GadgetApplication · Linuxfoundation

CVE-2026-25996

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.49.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Inspektor Gadget is a set of tools and framework for data collection and system inspection on Kubernetes clusters and Linux hosts using eBPF. String fields from eBPF events in columns output mode are rendered to the terminal without any sanitization of control characters or ANSI escape sequences. Therefore, a maliciously forged – partially or completely – event payload, coming from an observed container, might inject the escape sequences into the terminal of ig operators, with various effects. The columns output mode is the default when running ig run interactively.

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

Inspektor Gadget renders string fields from eBPF events to the terminal without sanitizing control characters or ANSI escape sequences. When running in columns output mode (the default for interactive ig run), a maliciously crafted event payload from a container can inject ANSI escape sequences into the operator's terminal, potentially enabling terminal manipulation or social engineering attacks.

MitigationSanitize all string fields from eBPF events by removing or escaping ANSI control characters before rendering to the terminal. Consider using a dedicated terminal sanitization library for Go.

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
Inspektor GadgetApplication
Affected:< 0.49.1

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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. Check installed Inspektor Gadget version
    Run 'ig version' or 'inspektor-gadget version' to get the version number
    Affected if Version is below 0.49.1 (e.g., 0.49.0, 0.48.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm ig run is being used in columns output mode
    Verify you are running 'ig run' commands for tracing. Columns mode is the default for interactive ig run. Check if the output shows data in column format rather than JSON or other formats
    Affected if Using ig run with default columns output mode to view eBPF event data
  3. Identify if monitoring containers that could send malicious payloads
    Review which container workloads are being traced with ig run gadgets (e.g., trace exec, trace open, trace network). Determine if untrusted or attacker-controlled containers could inject data into event fields
    Affected if Tracing containers where an attacker could control eBPF event string field contents

You are affected if inspektor-gadget version is below 0.49.1 and you use ig run in default columns mode to view string fields from eBPF events generated by containers.

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 0.49.1 or later
Fixed in 0.49.1
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Sanitize all string fields from eBPF events by removing or escaping ANSI control characters before rendering to the terminal. Consider using a dedicated terminal sanitization library for Go.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Inspektor Gadget version 0.49.1 or later (the commit d59cf72971f9b7110d9c179dc8ae8b7a11dbd6d2 was included in v0.49.1)

  1. 1. Back up any custom configurations or scripts that interact with Inspektor Gadget
  2. 2. Identify your current version using: ig version
  3. 3. Upgrade to version 0.49.1 or later by following the installation guide at https://github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget#installation
  4. 4. For containerized deployments, update your container image tag to use version 0.49.1 or latest stable
  5. 5. After upgrading, verify the fix by testing ig run with a sample eBPF program and confirming that any crafted escape sequences in event data are properly escaped/not executed
  6. 6. Redeploy any Kubernetes manifests or container configurations that reference older versions

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

Fix this in Inspektor Gadget Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2026-25996 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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