CVE-2026-23954

Incus container image templating arbitrary host file read and write

HIGH
8.7
CVSS Score
Published: January 22, 2026 at 09:45 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 10:22 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsIncusIncus

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Severity
HIGH8.7
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.8%
SSVC
PoC

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v ≤ 6.0.56.1.0 ≤ v < 6.21.0
v ≤ 6.20.0<= 6.0.5

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.7HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
ADJACENT_NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-22

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