CVE-2026-44543: Local Path Provisioner Vulnerable to HelperPod Template Injection

A malicious user with permission to edit the local-path-config ConfigMap in the local-path-storage namespace can manipulate the helperPod.yaml template used by rancher/local-path-provisioner.

The helperPod.yaml template is loaded by the provisioner and used to create HelperPods during PVC provisioning and cleanup operations. However, the template is not sufficiently validated before use. Security-sensitive fields such as securityContext.privileged, hostPath volumes, and Linux capabilities can be injected into the template.

Example malicious HelperPod template:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
name: helper-pod
spec:
containers:
- name: helper-pod
image: docker.io/kindest/local-path-helper:v20230510-486859a6
imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
securityContext:
privileged: true
volumeMounts:
- name: host-root
mountPath: /host
volumes:
- name: host-root
hostPath:
path: /
type: Directory

When a PVC operation triggers HelperPod creation, the provisioner creates the HelperPod using the attacker-controlled template. This can result in a privileged pod running on the target node with the host root filesystem mounted.

This may allow the attacker to access sensitive host files, read ServiceAccount tokens from other pods on the same node, access other tenants’ local-path volume data, or modify files on the host node.

Expected Behavior:

• The HelperPod template should not allow privileged containers.
• The HelperPod template should not allow arbitrary hostPath mounts.
• Security-sensitive fields in helperPod.yaml should be validated or rejected before the provisioner creates HelperPods.