LXD vulnerability

A link following vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve root command execution on the host system. During the import or unpacking of crafted image or backup archives, LXD fails to properly validate and confine the backup.yaml file when it exists as a symbolic link. An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a malicious archive with a symlinked backup.yaml file, causing LXD to process unconfined configuration metadata and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.

Published 12 Aug 2026Updated 11 Sep 20263 sources
CVSS 9.9 ✓ VERIFIED REFERENCE

What happened

A link following vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve root command execution on the host system. During the import or unpacking of crafted image or backup archives, LXD fails to properly validate and confine the backup.yaml file when it exists as a symbolic link. An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a malicious archive with a symlinked backup.yaml file, causing LXD to process unconfined configuration metadata and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.

Affected versions

LXD: 4.0.0 through before 4.0.12 (semver); 5.0.0 through before 5.0.8 (semver); 5.21.0 through before 5.21.6 (semver); 6.0 through before 6.10 (semver) Fixed: See vendor advisory.

Why it matters

Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.

Detection & mitigation

  • Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
  • Review affected product exposure and access logs.

Public PoC references

RepositoryAuthorFirst seenReference
github.comNVD reference2026-08-12Verified