Read the docs
TI-2026-19295 Aliases CVE-2026-23953GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32

Incus container environment configuration newline injection

Priority HIGH 73CWE-93Published · Updated

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

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0049 42nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 2 exploit referencesTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go): 6.21.0

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
lxcincus6.1.0 – 6.20.0; up to 6.0.5—No fix listedCNA
—github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go)before 6.21.06.21.0Patch availableGHSA-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

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:linuxcontainers:incus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 6.0.5; 6.1.0 to before 6.21.0Vulnerablelxc
  • cpe:2.3:a:linuxcontainers:incus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 6.0.5; 6.1.0 to before 6.21.0 Vulnerable ·lxc

Remediation

  • Fix · GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32 github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) Fixed in 6.21.0 Advisory →

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-23953
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32

References

  • 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
See all 17 →

Sources