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CVE-2020-15229

CriticalCVSS 9.3 / 10
Published Oct 14, 2020·Last modified Apr 10, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Singularity (an open source container platform) from version 3.1.1 through 3.6.3 has a vulnerability. Due to insecure handling of path traversal and the lack of path sanitization within unsquashfs, it is possible to overwrite/create any files on the host filesystem during the extraction with a crafted squashfs filesystem. The extraction occurs automatically for unprivileged (either installation or with allow setuid = no) run of Singularity when a user attempt to run an image which is a local SIF image or a single file containing a squashfs filesystem and is coming from remote sources library:// or shub://. Image build is also impacted in a more serious way as it can be used by a root user, allowing an attacker to overwrite/create files leading to a system compromise, so far bootstrap methods library, shub and localimage are triggering the squashfs extraction. This issue is addressed in Singularity 3.6.4. All users are advised to upgrade to 3.6.4 especially if they use Singularity mainly for building image as root user. There is no solid workaround except to temporary avoid to use unprivileged mode with single file images in favor of sandbox images instead. Regarding image build, temporary avoid to build from library and shub sources and as much as possible use --fakeroot or a VM for that.

Risk Scores
Base Score
9.3

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. The attacker needs the user to perform some action, like clicking a link. The vulnerability can affect other systems as well, not just the initial system. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data.

Threat Intelligence
8.5

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
2.05%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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