Incus container environment configuration newline injection
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. In versions 6.20.0 and below, a user with the ability to launch a container with a custom YAML configuration (e.g a member of the ‘incus’ group) can create an environment variable containing newlines, which can be used to add additional configuration items in the container’s lxc.conf due to newline injection. This can allow adding arbitrary lifecycle hooks, ultimately resulting in arbitrary command execution on the host. Exploiting this issue on IncusOS requires a slight modification of the payload to change to a different writable directory for the validation step (e.g /tmp). This can be confirmed with a second container with /tmp mounted from the host (A privileged action for validation only). A fix is planned for versions 6.0.6 and 6.21.0, but they have not been released at the time of publication.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lxc | incus | 6.1.0 – 6.20.0; up to 6.0.5 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) | before 6.21.0 | 6.21.0 | Patch available | GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32 |
- incus Vendorlxc Affected 6.1.0 – 6.20.0; up to 6.0.5 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 6.21.0 Fixed in 6.21.0 Patch available GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32 github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) Fixed in 6.21.0 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-23953
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32
References
Exploit 2
More lxc Incus vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-19296 Incus container image templating arbitrary host file read and write CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.7
- TI-2025-39899 Incus vulnerable to local privilege escalation through custom storage volumes CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-29045 Incus out-of-bounds panic in snapshot metadata handling allows denial of service CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-29009 Incus nil-pointer dereference in storage bucket import allows denial of service CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-26122 Incus vulnerable to denial of source through crafted bucket backup file CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2026-25935 Incus does not verify combined fingerprint when downloading images from simplestreams servers CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.7
Sources
- CVE-2026-23953 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-23953 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-23953 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences