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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2019-5736

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2019-02-11
  • Fixed in1.7.2 · 1.6.2 · 1.5.3 · 1.4.3
  • WeaknessCWE-78

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows attackers to overwrite the host runc binary (and consequently obtain host root access) by leveraging the ability to execute a command as root within one of these types of containers: (1) a new container with an attacker-controlled image, or (2) an existing container, to which the attacker previously had write access, that can be attached with docker exec. This occurs because of file-descriptor mishandling, related to /proc/self/exe.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2019-02-1119:29CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2019-02-12Exploit-DB entryExploit-DB

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-5736?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-5736?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Apache mesos
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.7≥ 1.7.0, < 1.7.21.7.2
1.6≥ 1.6.0, < 1.6.21.6.2
1.5≥ 1.5.0, < 1.5.31.5.3
1.4≥ 1.4.0, < 1.4.31.4.3
Canonical ubuntu linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
16.4= 16.04no fix published
18.4= 18.04no fix published
18.10= 18.10no fix published
19.4= 19.04no fix published
Microfocus service management automation
BranchAffectedFixed in
2018.2= 2018.02no fix published
2018.5= 2018.05no fix published
2018.8= 2018.08no fix published
2018.11= 2018.11no fix published

16 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • buildahRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamall versions · fixed in 0:1.5-3.gite94b4f9.module+el8.0.0+2958+4e823551and 2 other packages
  • container-selinuxRed Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstreamall versions · fixed in 2:2.94-1.git1e99f1d.module+el8.0.0+2958+4e823551
  • containerdSUSE:OpenStack Cloud 6-LTSSall versions · fixed in 1.2.2-16.14.2
  • containerdSUSE:OpenStack Cloud 6-LTSSall versions · fixed in 1.2.6-16.23.1
  • containerdSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP1all versions · fixed in 1.2.5-5.13.1
  • containerdSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15 SP1all versions · fixed in 1.2.6-5.16.1
  • containerdSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15all versions · fixed in 1.2.2-5.9.1
  • containerdSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Containers 15all versions · fixed in 1.2.5-5.13.1

143 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2019-5736 Red Hat Product Security215 products fixed · 3 known affected

    runc: Execution of malicious containers allows for container escape and access to host filesystem

    docker-latest as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · runc as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.9 · runc.src as a component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.9

  • RHSA-2019:0975 Red Hat Product Security124 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: container-tools:rhel8 security and bug fix update

  • RHSA-2019:0408 Red Hat Product Security44 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: OpenShift Container Platform 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7 security update

  • RHSA-2019:0401 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Container Development Kit 3.7.0-1 security update

  • RHSA-2019:0304 Red Hat Product Security37 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: docker security update

  • RHSA-2019:0303 Red Hat Product Security9 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: runc security update

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Update Apache mesos to 1.7.2 · 1.6.2 · 1.5.3 · 1.4.3
  2. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:0975 · 124 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
  3. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:0408 · 44 productsBefore applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied. See the following documentation for important instructions on how to upgrade your cluster and fully apply this asynchronous errata update. For OpenShift Container Platform 3.4: https:…
  4. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:0401 · 1 productThe References section of this erratum contains a link to download CDK 3.7.0-1 (you must log in to download the update). Instructions are provided in the Red Hat Container Development Kit Getting Started Guide linked in the References section.
  5. Workaround from the vendor Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2019:0975 · 124 productsThis vulnerability is mitigated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 if SELinux is in enforcing mode. SELinux in enforcing mode is a pre-requisite for OpenShift Container Platform 3.x.
  6. No fix planned, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2019-5736 · 3 productsWill not fix

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
EDB-46359EDB-46369
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
20 repositories, unverifiedq3k/cve-2019-5736-pocFrichetten/CVE-2019-5736-PoCjas502n/CVE-2019-5736likekabin/CVE-2019-5736likekabin/cve-2019-5736-poc
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/linux/local/docker_runc_escaperank: manualModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2019-02-11
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-5736?

runc through 1.0-rc6, as used in Docker before 18.09.2 and other products, allows attackers to overwrite the host runc binary (and consequently obtain host root access) by leveraging the ability to execute a command as root within one of these types of containers: (1) a new container with an attacker-controlled image, or (2) an existing container, to which the attacker previously had write access, that can be attached with docker exec. This occurs because of file-descriptor mishandling, related to /proc/self/exe.

Is CVE-2019-5736 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-5736 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 98.5% on 2026-11-03, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-5736?

CVE-2019-5736 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.6 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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Sources for this record