Vulnerability Intelligence Report
Arbitrary File Read/Write: metadata.yaml symlink in image allows host filesystem access as root
CVE-2026-63293
A link following vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary file read and write operations on the host system. When importing or unpacking an image archive, LXD fails to validate whether the metadata.yaml file is a symbolic link. An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with a symlinked metadata.yaml file pointing to target file paths on the host system.
No Active Exploit Signals
CVSS Base Score
9.9
CRITICAL
Exploitability:3.2
Impact Score:6.1
Executive Threat Verdict
Evaluating...
Evaluating Threat Landscape...
Assessing known weaponization, exploitation telemetry, and federal advisories.
Attack Surface
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Authentication
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Weaponization
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SSVC Action
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Weaknesses (CWE)
CWE-59 ↗CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Affected Products & Versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Canonical | LXD | 4.0.0 < 4.0.12 (affected), 5.0.0 < 5.0.8 (affected), 5.21.0 < 5.21.6 (affected), 6.0 < 6.10 (affected) |
Threat Intelligence Signals
Identity & Timeline
| Status | PUBLISHED |
| Assigning Authority | Canonical Ltd. · Vendor · UK |
| Reserved | 2026-07-16T09:49:29 |
| Published | 2026-08-12T20:00:09 |
| Last Updated | 2026-08-13T12:40:35 |
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