CVE-2026-20613
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows arbitrary file write through path traversal in archive extraction functions. Attackers can place malicious archives that extract files to any user-writable location on the system using relative paths. This affects users of cctl image load and container image load functionality in vulnerable versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- container
- containerization
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise via overwriting critical system files, privilege escalation, or remote code execution by writing to executable paths.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation, data corruption, or service disruption by overwriting configuration files or binaries.
If Mitigated
Limited to user-writable directories if proper file permissions are enforced, but still allows data loss or user-level compromise.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires ability to load archives via vulnerable functions. No authentication bypass needed if user already has archive loading permissions.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: container 0.8.0, containerization 0.21.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/apple/containerization/security/advisories/GHSA-cq3j-qj2h-6rv3
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update container to version 0.8.0 or later. 2. Update containerization to version 0.21.0 or later. 3. Verify no regressions in image loading functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict archive sources
allOnly load archives from trusted, verified sources. Implement source validation before extraction.
Sandbox extraction
linuxExtract archives to isolated directories with restricted permissions before processing.
mkdir -p /tmp/safe_extract && chmod 700 /tmp/safe_extract
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls on archive loading functions to limit usage to trusted users only.
- Deploy file integrity monitoring on critical system directories to detect unauthorized file writes.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check installed versions: container version < 0.8.0 OR containerization version < 0.21.0Check Version:
cctl --version && containerization --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm container >= 0.8.0 AND containerization >= 0.21.0 are installed📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Archive extraction operations with unusual file paths
- File writes to unexpected system locations following archive loads
Network Indicators:
- Downloads of archives from untrusted sources followed by extraction operations
SIEM Query:
source="archive_extraction" AND (path="../" OR path="..\\" OR destination_path NOT IN allowed_paths)