Containers are short-lived and unique in their orchestration because of their portability, lightweight nature, and their ability to encapsulate dependencies. They share the host OS kernel, support microservices, and are known to be scalable, which means they can introduce new vulnerabilities.
Container security vulnerabilities expand attack surfaces and can jeopardize sensitive information by opening up access to confidential assets. Not all container security risks can be addressed at the orchestration level and it’s important to manage threats for individual containers.
Following standard DevSecOps practices is a good start and minimizing risks means companies must follow the best container security practices. In this guide, we will explore top container security vulnerabilities and give you an overview of everything you need to know about them.
What are Container Security Vulnerabilities?
Container Security Vulnerabilities are potential weaknesses, gaps, or glitches in how container technologies are set up or function. These can be gateways for unwanted guests to sneak in, tamper with data, or mess with the applications running in these containers. In the software development and IT world, these container security vulnerabilities can create big-time problems like confidential data leaks, service disruptions, or even complete system hijacks.
In the usual virtualization-based environments, every virtual machine (VM) has its operating system (OS). But containers? They all share the same OS kernel. So, a vulnerability in one container might affect others on the same host. This is why it's super important to have a solid container security strategy prepared for all kinds of threats. These container security vulnerabilities can show up at any stage of the container lifecycle, from building container images to their deployment and runtime. So, we've got to keep our eyes peeled at all times for their detection and fixing.
Types of Container Security Vulnerabilities
Here are the main types of container security vulnerabilities:
Vulnerabilities in Container Images
Vulnerabilities in container images include insecure dependencies, outdated software, and image misconfigurations. You can also have malicious images, backdoors, and harmful code embedded and distributed with these images. There's also the problem with excessive layering which can increase container image size and potential attack surfaces.
Insecure Configurations
Containers may have open ports or insecure images. Insecure container configurations also include poor settings and practices used in container environments. Default settings could be left unhardened too. Then there's the problem with outdated software and malicious components. Users can fail to set limits on CPU and memory or disk usage.
Excessive Permissions
You can face security issues like running containers with root privileges or experience privilege escalations. Excessive privileges can compromise containers and let attackers take over the host machine.
Exposed Secrets
Exposed secrets refer to sensitive information—such as API keys, credentials, certificates, and tokens—embedded directly within container images or configuration files. These secrets can be accidentally committed to version control or left in environment variables, making them accessible to unauthorized parties. Once exposed, attackers can leverage these credentials to access back-end services, databases, or cloud resources, potentially leading to data breaches and service disruptions.
Insecure Network Configurations
Insecure network configurations arise when containers are connected with overly permissive network policies or default bridge networks. Containers may be assigned public IPs, open ports, or broad CIDR ranges without proper segmentation. Weak firewall rules and lack of micro-segmentation allow lateral movement between containers and host systems. This misconfiguration increases the attack surface, enabling attackers to intercept traffic, exploit unpatched services, or launch denial-of-service attacks.
Orchestrator Misconfigurations
Orchestrator misconfigurations occur in platforms like Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, or OpenShift when default settings remain unchanged or RBAC policies are too permissive. Examples include using the “default” namespace for critical workloads, granting cluster-admin roles to service accounts, or failing to enforce Pod Security Policies. Such oversights can result in unauthorized deployments, privilege escalations, and uncontrolled resource consumption, undermining both security and stability of the container environment.
Runtime Vulnerabilities and Container Breakouts
Runtime vulnerabilities and container breakouts involve flaws in container runtimes or underlying kernels that allow code within a container to escape isolation. Attackers exploit such vulnerabilities—like CVE-2020-14386 in runc—to gain root access on the host. Other risks stem from unpatched container runtime components, insecure use of host mounts, or privileged containers. Successful breakouts compromise the host machine, enabling attackers to tamper with other containers or the orchestrator itself.
Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
Supply chain vulnerabilities encompass risks introduced at every stage of container lifecycle: from third-party base images, build pipelines, to deployment tools. Malicious code can be injected into base images or CI/CD scripts, while unverified image registries may host trojanized artifacts. Lack of image signing, vulnerability scanning, and provenance verification enables attackers to introduce backdoors or compromised dependencies. These hidden threats can propagate across environments, affecting development, staging, and production alike.
How SentinelOne Can Help?
Singularity Cloud Workload Security (CWS) is a Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) that defends containerized workloads across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and private data centers by using AI-powered threat detection and provides machine-speed responses. You can detect container configuration drifts associated with your cloud workloads with CWS. You also gain access to a rich forensic history of workload telemetry and data logs required for investigating incidents and slashing response times.
SentinelOne Singularity™ Cloud Native Security supports scanning VMs, workloads, container images, and registries. You can identify more than 750 types of secrets hardcoded across code repositories—and keep them from leaking out.
SentinelOne’s Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM) solution protects your Kubernetes clusters and workloads, reducing human error and minimizing manual intervention.
It enables you to enforce security standards, such as Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies, and automatically detect, assess, and remediate policy violations across the Kubernetes environment. It also streamlines cloud-native security and aligns with frameworks like the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Benchmarks.
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SentinelOne stands out as a leader in cloud security and is a trusted partner in remediating container security issues. Be it pinpointing configuration anomalies, unearthing embedded secrets, or perpetually surveilling your container landscape, SentinelOne is there to ensure your enterprise remains a stride ahead of potential dangers.
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Container Security Vulnerabilities FAQs
Container security vulnerabilities are weaknesses in how container technologies are configured or function that attackers can exploit to gain unauthorized access, steal data, or compromise systems. These vulnerabilities can appear in container images, runtime environments, or orchestration platforms like Kubernetes.
Since containers share the same OS kernel, a vulnerability in one container might affect others on the same host.
Common vulnerabilities include outdated software packages with known security flaws, hard-coded secrets like passwords and API keys, malicious code from supply chain attacks, and insecure base images from untrusted registries.
You’ll also find vulnerable dependencies and libraries that get imported during the build process. These issues can expose containers to breaches when they’re deployed in production.
Misconfigurations create direct pathways for attackers to exploit containers and potentially escape to the host system. Common issues include running containers with root privileges, exposing unnecessary ports to the internet, using default passwords, and mounting sensitive host directories.
These simple mistakes can lead to privilege escalation, data breaches, and complete system compromise. They’re often easier to exploit than code vulnerabilities.