Abitrary file write through systemd-creds option (lxc incus)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.46 % · percentile 39 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- GitHub_M
- NVD status
- Analyzed
Description
Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. Incus instances have an option to provide credentials to systemd in the guest. For containers, this is handled through a shared directory. Prior to version 6.23.0, an attacker can set a configuration key named something like `systemd.credential.../../../../../../root/.bashrc` to cause Incus to write outside of the `credentials` directory associated with the container. This makes use of the fact that the Incus syntax for such credentials is `systemd.credential.XYZ` where `XYZ` can itself contain more periods. While it's not possible to read any data this way, it's possible to write to arbitrary files as root, enabling both privilege escalation and denial of service attacks. Version 6.23.0 fixes the issue.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-22 — Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
References
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | CRITICAL 10.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H | GitHub_M |
| CVSS 3.1 | CRITICAL 9.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | CRITICAL 9.6 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
Advisories
- GHSA-q4q8-7f2j-9h9f — Incus has an abitrary file write through its systemd-creds options
- GO-2026-4884 — Incus has an abitrary file write through its systemd-creds options in github.com/lxc/incus
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-16492
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-33945
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:linuxcontainers:incus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*< 6.23.0
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| lxc · incus | affected < 6.23.0 |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |