CVE-2026-23954 HIGH

CVE-2026-23954: Incus container image templating arbitrary host file read and write

Vendor Lxc
Product incus
Weakness CWE-22 · Path traversal
Published January 22, 2026
Last update January 26, 2026

CVSS base score

8.7/10
Attack vector Adjacent
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. Versions 6.21.0 and below allow a user with the ability to launch a container with a custom image (e.g a member of the ‘incus’ group) to use directory traversal or symbolic links in the templating functionality to achieve host arbitrary file read, and host arbitrary file write. This ultimately results in arbitrary command execution on the host. When using an image with a metadata.yaml containing templates, both the source and target paths are not checked for symbolic links or directory traversal. This can also be exploited in IncusOS. A fix is planned for versions 6.0.6 and 6.21.0, but they have not been released at the time of publication.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

January 22, 2026 CVE published
January 26, 2026 Record updated