CVE-2026-16033 PUBLISHED

Arbitrary file read+write on host via templates/ symlink in malicious image

Assigner: canonical
Reserved: 17.07.2026 Published: 12.08.2026 Updated: 13.08.2026

A path traversal vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary host file read or unconstrained file creation. When processing image metadata templates, LXD fails to properly sanitize or restrict template file paths from escaping the instance templates directory (specifically affecting virtual machine / QEMU driver execution paths). An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with malicious template directives containing path traversal sequences, causing LXD to access or write files outside the intended template directory on the host system.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
CVSS Score: 8.5

Product Status

Vendor Canonical
Product LXD
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 4.0.0 to 4.0.12 (excl.)
  • affected from 5.0.0 to 5.0.8 (excl.)

Solutions

Upgrade to LXD version 4.0.12 or later, or 5.0.8 or later.

References

Problem Types

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

Impacts

  • Path Traversal
  • Input Data Manipulation