CVE-2026-66897: critical vulnerability in Canonical LXD
Instance template path traversal allows arbitrary host file write as root
Published · Updated
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28Vexday Risk Score
No sign of exploitation. No public exploitation artifact known so far.
ssvc Trackcvss 9.9epss 0.7%
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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
Canonical · LXDRelated CVEs — Canonical LXD
In the same product, most dangerous first.
CVE-2026-63294CRITICALRoot RCE via image backup.yaml symlinkEPSS 0.9%CVE-2026-63298HIGHLXD arbitrary lxc.conf directive injection via NVIDIA instance configurationEPSS 0.7%CVE-2026-9640HIGHLXD Snapshot Import Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityEPSS 0.6%CVE-2025-54293HIGHPath Traversal in LXD Instance Log File RetrievalEPSS 0.6%CVE-2026-66898CRITICALPath traversal via unvalidated instance name in backup tarball restore enables root file write / RCEEPSS 0.6%CVE-2026-63293CRITICALArbitrary File Read/Write: metadata.yaml symlink in image allows host filesystem access as rootEPSS 0.6%