Nova: Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres (CVE-2026-24708)
Published Last modified
What is affected, what to do
An issue was discovered in OpenStack Nova before 30.2.2, 31 before 31.2.1, and 32 before 32.1.1. By writing a malicious QCOW header to a root or ephemeral disk and then triggering a resize, a user may convince Nova's Flat image backend to call qemu-img without a format restriction, resulting in an unsafe image resize operation that could destroy data on the host system.
Update OpenStack Nova to version 30.2.2, OpenStack Nova to version 31.2.1, OpenStack Nova to version 32.1.1.
- Affected
- OpenStack Nova
lt *..30.2.2 - OpenStack Nova
lt 31.0.0..31.2.1 - OpenStack Nova
lt 32.0.0..32.1.1
- OpenStack Nova
- Fixed in
- OpenStack Nova
30.2.2 - OpenStack Nova
31.2.1 - OpenStack Nova
32.1.1
- OpenStack Nova
Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability
Metrics
8.2
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
8.2
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
0.4 %
EPSS score
Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 34.4
Show all metrics
- Severity
- High
Priority score
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 78.79
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 8.2
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 8.2
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 0.4 %
- Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 34.4
- Elevated — this CVE ranks above at least 10% of all CVEs scored today.
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-669
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
An issue was discovered in OpenStack Nova before 30.2.2, 31 before 31.2.1, and 32 before 32.1.1. By writing a malicious QCOW header to a root or ephemeral disk and then triggering a resize, a user may convince Nova's Flat image backend to call qemu-img without a format restriction, resulting in an unsafe image resize operation that could destroy data on the host system. Only compute nodes using the Flat image backend (usually configured with use_cow_images=False) are affected.
Source: BSI WID Portal
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenStack | Nova |
|
|
| Red Hat | OpenShift |
|
|
| pypi | nova |
|
|
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-669Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres
Class
The product does not properly transfer a resource/behavior to another sphere, or improperly imports a resource/behavior from another sphere, in a manner that provides unintended control over that resource.
Entry at MITRE CWE-669
References & sources
- NVD (NIST)vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24708advisory
- github.comopenstack/nova/commit/3eba22ff09c81a61750fbb4882e5f1f01a20fdf5web
- bugs.launchpad.netnova/+bug/2137507web
- github.comopenstack/novapackage
- lists.debian.orgdebian-lts-announce/2026/02/msg00025.htmlweb
- openwall.comlists/oss-security/2026/02/17/7web
- pypi.orgproject/novapackage
- GitHub Security Advisoriesadvisories/GHSA-m4f3-qp2w-gwh6advisory
- access.redhat.comsecurity/cve/CVE-2026-24708Vulnerability database, x_refsource_REDHAT
- bugzilla.redhat.comRHBZ#2430312Issue tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- security.access.redhat.comdata/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-24708.jsonx_sadp-csaf-vex
- access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:54757Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:7884Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:66401Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
Reanalysis & status changes
Chronological NVD audit events for this CVE — reanalyses, CVSS updates, CPE diffs.
CVE Modifiedcve@mitre.org
- Reference: after https://bugs.launchpad.net/nova/+bug/2137507
- Reference: after https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/02/17/7
- Reference:
before https://bugs.launchpad.net/nova/+bug/2137507 - Reference:
before https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/02/17/7
CVE Modifiedaf854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- Reference: after https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/02/msg00025.html
- Reference:
before https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2026/02/msg00025.html
CVE Modified0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c
- Affected: after Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/24xxx/CVE-2026-24708.json">CVE-2026-24708</a>
- Reference: after https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54757
- Reference: after https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66401
- Reference: after https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7884
Linked CVEs
| Severity | CVE | Title | CVSS | Exploitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | CVE-2026-24708 | OpenStack Nova: Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres | 8.2 | — |