Security Digest · Vulnerability record
CVE-2024-23653: Buildkit's interactive containers API does not validate entitlements check
BuildKit is a toolkit for converting source code to build artifacts in an efficient, expressive and repeatable manner.
CVSS 9.8 Critical EPSS 3.4% · p89 Patch this week
Should you act?
Critical and remotely reachable
No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.
- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 3.4%, percentile 89: FIRST’s model estimates a 3.4% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 89% of all scored CVEs (elevated). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes
github.com/moby/buildkit(Go) < 0.12.5, fixed in 0.12.5. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies. - Editorial verdict: Patch this week. Leaky Vessels: runc Container Escape (CVE-2024-21626) — A real container escape, but it needs you to run an attacker-controlled image or a crafted exec; patch runc everywhere promptly, urgently where untrusted images or multi-tenant builds run.
What it is
BuildKit is a toolkit for converting source code to build artifacts in an efficient, expressive and repeatable manner. In addition to running containers as build steps, BuildKit also provides APIs for running interactive containers based on built images. It was possible to use these APIs to ask BuildKit to run a container with elevated privileges. Normally, running such containers is only allowed if special security.insecure entitlement is enabled both by buildkitd configuration and allowed by the user initializing the build request. The issue has been fixed in v0.12.5 . Avoid using BuildKit frontends from untrusted sources.
From the GitHub advisory
Impact In addition to running containers as build steps, BuildKit also provides APIs for running interactive containers based on built images. It was possible to use these APIs to ask BuildKit to run a container with elevated privileges. Normally, running such containers is only allowed if special security.insecure entitlement is enabled both by buildkitd configuration and allowed by the user initializing the build request.
Patches The issue has been fixed in v0.12.5 .
Workarounds Avoid using BuildKit frontends from untrusted sources. A frontend image is usually specified as the #syntax line on your Dockerfile, or with --frontend flag when using buildctl build command.
References
Weakness type: CWE-863.
Product: github.com/moby/buildkit (Go) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2024-01-31
Affected and fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable | First fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/moby/buildkit | < 0.12.5 | 0.12.5 |
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions (per CVE record) |
|---|---|---|
| moby | buildkit | < 0.12.5 |
Severity scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_M | 3.1 | 9.8 Critical | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| GitHub | 3.1 | 9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
- Attack complexity: low
- Privileges required: none (no login)
- User interaction: none
- Scope: unchanged
CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.
Exploitation and urgency
- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact total.
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 3.45% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 89.
Timeline
- — CVE record published by GitHub_M
- — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-wr6v-9f75-vh2g published (critical)
- — erroneo.us brief: Leaky Vessels: runc Container Escape (CVE-2024-21626)
- — CVE record last updated
Sources and references
Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.
Vulnerability records
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-wr6v-9f75-vh2g github.com
- CVE.org record CVE-2024-23653 cve.org
- NVD entry CVE-2024-23653 nvd.nist.gov
Other references from the CVE record and advisory
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com