Description
The 'podman quadlet install --replace' command opens the existing destination file with O_CREATE|O_WRONLY but omits O_TRUNC. When the initial reflink copy attempt fails (common on non-reflink-capable filesystems including many RHEL default XFS configurations), the fallback in ReflinkOrCopy uses io.Copy which performs a non-truncating write. If the original Quadlet is larger than the new Quadlet, the file is not truncated and content from the original is preserved. The command completes with no warning.
There is no risk of information leakage as the user already had access to the Quadlet in order to replace it, and in most cases, this would only lead to invalid Quadlet files. However, security-related options from the end of the old Quadlet could be included in the new Quadlet, and if the truncation resulted in a valid Quadlet file, this could result in undesirable behavior. For example, running podman quadlet install --replace to remove a single line from the end of a Quadlet - including security-sensitive content, like AddCapability - will fail, and the option will continue to be used. Further, with Volume Quadlets, this can include additional mounts which can cause content to be unintentionally exposed into containers. If, later, the image is updated then compromised content might be leaked to an attacker.
The vulnerable code paths are in pkg/domain/infra/abi/quadlet.go (lines 338-360, O_CREATE|O_WRONLY without O_TRUNC) and vendor/go.podman.io/storage/pkg/fileutils/reflink_linux.go (lines 12-19, non-truncating io.Copy fallback).
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Quay 3 | — | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | podman | 5.8.6+ds1-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | podman | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | podman | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 10 | podman +3 | 7:5.8.2-9.el10_2 | RHSA-2026:70201 |
| RHEL 9 | podman +4 | 6:5.8.2-7.el9_8 | RHSA-2026:69961 |
AlmaLinux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmaLinux 10 | podman +3 | 7:5.8.2-9.el10_2.alma.1 | ALSA-2026:70201 |
| AlmaLinux 9 | podman +4 | 6:5.8.2-7.el9_8 | ALSA-2026:69961 |
Rocky Linux
Errata ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Linux 10 | podman | 7:5.8.2-9.el10_2 | RLSA-2026:70201 |
| Rocky Linux 9 | podman | 6:5.8.2-7.el9_8 | RLSA-2026:69961 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | podman | 5.8.6-r0 | — |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | podman | No fix yet | — |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 10 | podman +3 | 7:5.8.2-9.0.1.el10_2 | ELSA-2026-70201 |
| Oracle Linux 9 | podman +4 | 6:5.8.2-7.0.1.el9_8 | ELSA-2026-69961 |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/containers/podman | all versions | — | GO-2026-6588 |
| Go | github.com/containers/podman/v2 | all versions | — | GO-2026-6588 |
| Go | github.com/containers/podman/v3 | all versions | — | GO-2026-6588 |
| Go | github.com/containers/podman/v4 | all versions | — | GO-2026-6588 |
| Go | github.com/containers/podman/v5 | >= 5.7.0, < 5.8.6 | 5.8.6 | GHSA-fx76-2j3w-2mx6 |
Advisories 9
- ALSA-2026:69961 Important: podman security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- ALSA-2026:70201 Important: podman security update AlmaLinux Security Advisories · Oct 29, 2026
- RHSA-2026:70201 Red Hat Security Advisory: podman security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 20, 2026
- RHSA-2026:69961 Red Hat Security Advisory: podman security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 20, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-2846 Podman: Schwachstelle ermöglicht nicht spezifizierten Angriff und Offenlegung von Informationen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Sep 23, 2026
- RLSA-2026:69961 Important: podman security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · Sep 23, 2026
- RLSA-2026:70201 Important: podman security update Rocky Linux Security Advisories · Sep 23, 2026
- ELSA-2026-70201 Important: podman security update (Oracle Linux 10) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Sep 23, 2026
- ELSA-2026-69961 Important: podman security update (Oracle Linux 9) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Sep 23, 2026
References
- RHSA-2026:69961 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2026:70201 vendor-advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-19730 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2508234 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/issues/29013
- https://github.com/podman-container-tools/podman/security/advisories/GHSA-fx76-2j3w-2mx6