CVE-2026-66897

Instance template path traversal allows arbitrary host file write as root

State
Published
Severity
9.9 Critical
Published
Aug 24, 2026
Updated
Aug 25, 2026
Reserved
Jul 28, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

Description

A path traversal vulnerability in LXD's instance template processing allows an attacker with container edit permissions, or any user launching a crafted image, to overwrite arbitrary files on the host system as root. When processing target template paths specified in metadata.yaml, LXD validates the path against a confined os.Root directory handle but subsequently opens and creates the file using os.Create with an unconfined string path. This discrepancy between path resolution checks and file creation allows an attacker to escape directory confinement, overwrite root-owned host files, and achieve host root code execution.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
3.19.9 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:Hcanonical

Weaknesses

  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
  • CWE-23 Relative Path Traversal

Affected Products

ProductVersions
LXDCanonical
  • 4.0.0 to before 4.0.13Affected
  • 5.0.0 to before 5.0.9Affected
  • 5.21.0 to before 5.21.7Affected
  • 6.0 to before 6.10Affected

References

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