Vulnerabilities Organizations Warned of Exploited Linux Kernel Vulnerability An improper authentication bug allows attackers to escalate their privileges and escape containers. By Ionut Arghire | June 3, 2026 (7:56 AM ET) Flipboard Reddit Whatsapp Whatsapp Email The US cybersecurity agency CISA on Tuesday warned of in-the-wild exploitation of a Linux kernel vulnerability that leads to container escapes. Tracked as CVE-2022-0492 (CVSS score of 7.8), the issue is described as an improper authentication vulnerability that could allow attackers to elevate their privileges and bypass the namespace isolation. The security defect was found in cgroups, the Linux kernel’s control groups feature that specifies which OS resources a group of processes can use. While there are two control group versions, only cgroups v1 is affected. Together with namespaces, cgroups can be used for process isolation and to restrict access to certain resources, which makes the feature essential for container creation. Due to the vulnerability, any user could modify the release_agent file residing at the root of the cgroup hierarchy, which runs as root within the cgroup namespace as part of cgroup v1’s notification mechanism when a cgroup becomes empty. “It is then possible to create a malicious script that is located on the host filesystem that will be run as root as part of the cgroup notification process, essentially allowing for a container escape and privilege escalation,” HackTheBox explains . Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. Additionally, the bug allowed attackers to create a new user namespace with admin privileges and then create a cgroup with a malicious release_agent file, triggering the exploit. Technical details on CVE-2022-0492 were published roughly three years ago, but its in-the-wild exploitation was reported only this week, one day before CISA’s alert. Kaspersky mentioned the exploitation of CVE-2022-0492 in a blog post describing attacks on container environments, but has not specified who is behind the attacks, nor who the victims are. On Tuesday, the cybersecurity agency added the CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, urging federal agencies to patch it by June 5. CISA also urged the immediate patching of CVE-2025-48595, a high-severity flaw in Android’s Framework component. Google patched the issue this week, warning that it has been exploited as a zero-day . Related: ‘HTTP/2 Bomb’ Exploit Knocks Web Servers Offline in Seconds Related: Oracle WebLogic Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild Related: WP Maps Pro Vulnerability Exploited to Take Over WordPress Sites Related: Recent Palo Alto Networks Vulnerability Exploited for Weeks Written By Ionut Arghire Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek. Daily Briefing Newsletter Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing for the latest cybersecurity threats, trends, and expert insights. 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Webinar: Third-Party Risk in Practice June 4, 2026 Organizations are investing heavily in third-party risk management, but breaches, delays, and blind spots continue to persist. Join this live webinar as we examine the gap between how organizations think their third-party risk programs are performing and what’s actually happening in practice. Register Virtual Roundtable: CISO Forum 2026 Mid-Year Review June 10, 2026 Explore how attackers are using AI to scale threats and how security teams can respond with AI-driven defenses. Protecting against unmonitored use of generative AI (Shadow AI) in business units and building and enforcing AI governance frameworks. Register People on the Move Rapid7 announced that Wael Mohamed will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer, replacing current Chief Executive Officer Corey Thomas, who will become Executive Chairman of the Board. Anurag Jain has been appointed Senior Vice President of Engineering at CodeHunter. CTERA has appointed Tal Sarfaty as Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity. More People On The Move Expert Insights The Zero-Knowledge Threat Actor and the End of Responsible Disclosure AI can help attackers generate malware, create malicious payloads, bypass simple security checks, and convert vague malicious intent into functional code. (Etay Maor) Raising the Cybersecurity Stakes: Ante up for the Agentic Era CISOs are now facing machine-speed attacks and asking, “How do I agent?” The industry must provide remediation at scale. (Nadir Izrael) Caught Off Guard: Securing AI After It Hits Production As enterprises rush AI projects into production, security teams are increasingly being forced into reactive mode. (Joshua Goldfarb) Cyber Resilience is the New Business Continuity Plan The organizations best prepared to face disruption are those that align security, continuity and risk management around what the business cannot afford to lose. (Steve Durbin) Enhancing Data Center Security Without Sacrificing Performance For AI data centers, where the stakes are the highest and performance constraints are the tightest, security and performance are no longer a zero-sum game. (Nadir Izrael) Flipboard Reddit Whatsapp Whatsapp Email