Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain schedulable pod on cluster network
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DeliveryScan pod network for virt-handler proxy port
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ExploitConnect to unauthenticated TCP listener
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ExecutionIssue libvirt RPC to victim virtqemud
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ImpactRead memory, alter QMP state, or destroy VM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Authentication required for critical functions
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that spec.configuration.migrations.disableTLS is set to true on the KubeVirt custom resource - a non-default setting that removes mutual authentication, peer allow-listing, and handshake tokens. The attacker must already be able to run a pod with connectivity to the cluster/pod network (PR:L) and must locate the random ephemeral port on which virt-handler binds the plaintext proxy (a key AC:H factor); a live-migration-capable virt-launcher target must be reachable. Limiting factors: the vulnerable listener only exists under the non-default disableTLS configuration, the attacker needs an existing foothold (a schedulable pod), and the random port must be discovered. Configuring a dedicated migration network via migrations.network does NOT limit exposure, since it only changes the advertised IP and not the 0.0.0.0 bind address. |
| Impact | The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H = 8.5) is internally consistent with the description: network-reachable (any pod on the cluster network), low privilege (a tenant who can schedule a pod), high attack complexity (the feature must be non-default-enabled and the attacker must locate a random ephemeral port), with a scope change reflecting one tenant compromising another tenant's VM and full confidentiality/integrity/availability loss over that VM. The decisive limiting signal is that disableTLS=true is NOT a default configuration, so real-world exposure is gated on operator misconfiguration; this is a genuine high-severity issue for clusters that have enabled it, but low real-world risk for default deployments. No EPSS score, KEV listing, POC, or SSVC decision data was provided, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified - absence of these signals lowers urgency relative to the raw 8.5 but does not eliminate priority where multi-tenant isolation matters. No data conflicts were identified; the main uncertainty is the lack of a confirmed fix version. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A malicious or compromised tenant deploys an ordinary pod into a cluster where disableTLS=true has been enabled, then probes the pod network for virt-handler's open migration proxy port. Connecting to the unauthenticated TCP listener, the attacker speaks libvirt RPC straight to a victim tenant's virtqemud socket to dump VM memory, change machine state via QMP, or destroy the VM. No public exploit is known, and the high attack complexity (non-default config plus locating a random port) makes this a targeted rather than opportunistic scenario. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jun 26, 2026
Cross-tenant VM compromise in KubeVirt (and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4) occurs when spec.configuration.migrations.disableTLS is set to true, causing virt-handler to expose an unauthenticated plaintext TCP proxy into a virt-launcher's virtqemud control socket on all interfaces. An authenticated tenant who can run any pod on the cluster network can reach this listener and issue arbitrary libvirt RPC commands against another tenant's virtual machine - reading guest memory, altering VM state via QMP, or destroying the VM. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; not listed in CISA KEV, and no EPSS score was provided.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch version is identified in the available data; consult https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-13325 and https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2493378 for the fixed build. The most effective immediate mitigation is configuration-level: set spec.configuration.migrations.disableTLS back to false (or remove it) on the KubeVirt custom resource to restore mutual-TLS authentication on the migration channel - the trade-off is reintroducing live-migration encryption overhead, which is the only reason operators disable it. Because migrations.network does not change the bind address, do not rely on a dedicated migration network as a control. As compensating controls until patched, apply Kubernetes NetworkPolicies to restrict pod-to-node and pod-to-pod traffic toward virt-handler's migration ports (trade-off: must be scoped carefully to avoid breaking legitimate migration traffic), and tighten multi-tenant isolation so untrusted workloads cannot schedule pods adjacent to sensitive VMs (trade-off: reduced scheduling flexibility).
Affects your stack
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Technical ContextAI · show details
KubeVirt runs virtual machines as Kubernetes pods, with virt-handler (a node-level DaemonSet) orchestrating live migration and virt-launcher wrapping the per-VM libvirt/QEMU stack via the virtqemud control socket. During live migration KubeVirt normally protects the migration channel with mutual TLS, but the disableTLS toggle removes not only encryption but also all mutual authentication, peer allow-listing, and handshake-token validation - leaving virt-handler binding a plain TCP listener on 0.0.0.0/:: at a random port that forwards directly to virtqemud. This maps to CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function): a security-critical control channel is exposed with no identity verification. Affected products per CPE are Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 (the downstream productization of upstream KubeVirt). Notably, the migrations.network setting only changes the advertised migration IP, not the bind address, so the listener stays reachable on the pod network even with a dedicated migration network configured.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Reachable over the pod network (AV:N) but gated on non-default disableTLS plus locating a random port (AC:H) and a pod foothold (PR:L); cross-tenant VM takeover yields S:C with full C/I/A.
Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).
CVSS VectorVendor: redhat
DescriptionCVE.org
A flaw was found in KubeVirt's migration proxy. When spec.configuration.migrations.disableTLS is set to true on the KubeVirt custom resource, the target virt-handler binds a plain TCP listener on all interfaces (0.0.0.0/::) on a random port with no authentication, peer allow-list, or handshake token. This listener proxies directly into the target virt-launcher's virtqemud control socket. An attacker with a running pod on the cluster network can connect to this listener and issue unfiltered libvirt RPC commands against another tenant's virtual machine, including reading VM memory and configuration, modifying VM state via QMP, or destroying the VM. The bind address is unconditionally 0.0.0.0 - configuring a dedicated migration network via migrations.network only changes the advertised migration IP, not the listener bind address, so the port remains reachable on the pod network even when a dedicated migration network is configured. The API documentation describes disableTLS as removing "the additional layer of live migration encryption" without disclosing that it also removes all mutual authentication.
Executive ViewAI
KubeVirt and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 contain a critical cross-tenant isolation bypass that allows authenticated cluster users to compromise virtual machines belonging to other tenants, reading guest memory and modifying or destroying VMs. This vulnerability eliminates security boundaries in multi-tenant environments, exposing customer data and workload integrity to internal threat actors with basic pod deployment capability.
Ensure spec.configuration.migrations.disableTLS is set to false (disable the setting that enables the vulnerability). Implement Kubernetes network policies to restrict pod network access to virt-handler listeners. Restrict RBAC permissions limiting pod deployment to minimally-privileged users and service accounts. Segment multi-tenant clusters by security boundary or consider temporary single-tenant deployments for sensitive workloads until patching is available.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
The system CA trust store shipped in Red Hat's ca-certificates RPM packages includes eMudhra root authorities that signe
Privilege escalation to cluster-wide control in KubeVirt's virt-handler component (as shipped in Red Hat OpenShift Virtu
Symlink following in KubeVirt's virt-handler migration proxy enables a low-privileged Kubernetes user holding namespace
Jinja2 template injection in Ansible Operator Plugins (CWE-1336) lets an authenticated Kubernetes user who can create or
Arbitrary file read in KubeVirt's virt-exportserver component allows authenticated namespace users to exfiltrate sensiti
Authorization bypass in KubeVirt's RBAC evaluation logic allows authenticated users with specific custom roles to gain u
Network annotation injection in KubeVirt's VirtualMachineInstance API allows authenticated tenants to attach launcher po
Symlink-based path traversal in the buildah/copier Go package allows a crafted tar archive to create files outside the i
A path-handling flaw in the containers/storage Go library lets a crafted tar archive containing a malicious whiteout ent
Unbounded memory allocation in KubeVirt's downward metrics virtio-serial server within Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
Same technique Authentication Bypass
View allVendor StatusVendor
SUSE
Severity: Important| Product | Status |
|---|---|
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Manager Server 4.3 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.4 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap 15.5 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.3 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.4 | Affected |
| openSUSE Leap Micro 5.5 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 | Affected |
| SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.2 | Affected |
EUVD-2026-39645
GHSA-r578-whjq-mcfv
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB