Description
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.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| lxc | incus | >= 6.1.0, <= 6.20.0, <= 6.0.5 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | incus | 6.0.5-8 | — |
| Debian 13 | incus | 6.0.4-2+deb13u4 | DSA-6109-1 |
| Debian 13 | lxd | 5.0.2+git20231211.1364ae4-9+deb13u3 | DSA-6153-1 |
| Debian 12 | lxd | 5.0.2-5+deb12u3 | DSA-6153-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 25.10 | incus | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | lxd | No fix yet | — |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS | incus | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | incus | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | lxd | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | lxd | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | incus | 6.22-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:10280-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | govulncheck-vulndb | 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | govulncheck-vulndb | 0.0.20260205T172317-150000.1.146.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:0403-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | incus | 6.0.5-r6 | — |
| Alpine v3.24 | incus-feature | 6.21.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | incus | 6.0.5-r6 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | incus-feature | 6.21.0-r0 | — |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/lxc/incus | all versions | — | GO-2026-4359 |
| Go | github.com/lxc/incus/v6 | < 6.21.0 | 6.21.0 | GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32 |
| Go | github.com/lxc/incus/v6 | >= 6.1.0 | — | GO-2026-4359 |
Advisories 5
- openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 Security update for govulncheck-vulndb SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 31, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:10280-1 incus-6.22-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:0403-1 Security update for govulncheck-vulndb SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- DSA-6153-1 lxd - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 1, 2026
- DSA-6109-1 incus - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Jan 23, 2026
References
- https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-x6jc-phwx-hp32
- https://github.com/lxc/incus/blob/HEAD/internal/server/instance/drivers/driver_lxc.go#L1081
- https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24473682/environment_newline_injection.sh
- https://github.com/user-attachments/files/24473685/environment_newline_injection.patch