CVE-2026-9804
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in KubeVirt's virt-exportserver component. An attacker with specific namespace-level access can exploit a path traversal vulnerability in the VMExport directory endpoint. By placing a symbolic link (symlink) within an exported filesystem Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) that points outside its designated mount root, the attacker can read arbitrary files from the exporter pod's filesystem. This leads to information disclosure, potentially exposing sensitive data.
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 confidenceA path traversal vulnerability exists in KubeVirt's virt-exportserver component where an attacker with namespace-level access can place a symbolic link within an exported filesystem PVC that points outside its designated mount root, enabling arbitrary file reads from the exporter pod's filesystem.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if KubeVirt is installedRun 'kubectl get pods -n kubevirt' or check for kubevirt CRD with 'kubectl get kubevirt -A'Affected if KubeVirt is not installed, the virt-exportserver component is not present and this CVE does not apply
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Verify virt-exportserver pod is runningRun 'kubectl get pods -n kubevirt | grep virt-exportserver'Affected if No virt-exportserver pod exists, the vulnerable component is not deployed
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Check for VMExport resources using directory typeRun 'kubectl get vmexport -A' and for each VMExport, check if 'spec.type: dir' is set with 'kubectl get vmexport <name> -o yaml'Affected if No VMExport resources with type: dir exist, the vulnerable endpoint is not in use
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Inspect exported PVCs for symbolic linksExamine the PVCs referenced in VMExport resources, then exec into the virt-exportserver pod and list files in the mounted volume to detect symlinks: 'kubectl exec -n kubevirt <virt-exportserver-pod> -- ls -la /export/<pvc-name>'Affected if Symbolic links are found in exported PVCs pointing outside the mount root (e.g., symlinks with target paths starting with '../../../')
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Compare installed KubeVirt version to fixed releaseRun 'kubectl get kubevirt -n kubevirt <kubevirt-cr-name> -o jsonpath='{.status.kubevirtVersion}'' or check the CSV/version in the operator namespaceAffected if The installed KubeVirt version has not yet received the fix for this path traversal vulnerability (version comparison only, no specific version number in scope)
The environment is affected only if KubeVirt with virt-exportserver is deployed AND VMExport resources with type: dir are in use AND symbolic links exist in the exported PVCs that can be traversed to access files outside the designated mount root.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataRestrict access to VMExport resources at the namespace level and implement validation in the virt-exportserver to prevent symlinks from resolving outside the designated mount root.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA5.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,216.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-9804 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-9804 in production — separate from our analysis above.
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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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