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LXD EUVDEUVD-2026-57515

| CVE-2026-63296 CRITICAL
Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863)
2026-08-12 canonical
9.9
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: canonical
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Authenticate to LXD API with migration rights
  2. Delivery
    Craft instance with high-privilege config
  3. Exploit
    Migrate to restricted project with config overrides
  4. Execution
    Restriction check bypassed on target project
  5. Persist
    Instance runs with disallowed privileges
  6. Impact
    Break tenant isolation / reach host

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization logic validation
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

The attacker must be an authenticated LXD user (PR:L) who holds permission to migrate/move an instance into a target project - this is the concrete prerequisite. Exploitation specifically requires supplying configuration overrides during instance migration to a target project that enforces 'restricted.*' controls; the bug is that these overrides bypass the target project's enforced restrictions. Limiting factors: it is not exploitable by anonymous/unauthenticated actors, it requires migration privileges rather than mere read access, and it is only meaningful where projects actually enforce restrictions (a deployment with no project-level restrictions has nothing to bypass). No user interaction is required (UI:N) and the LXD API is reachable over the network (AV:N).

Impact

This is a genuine high-priority issue rather than an inflated high-CVSS score. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H = 9.9) reflects a network-reachable, low-complexity attack needing only low privileges and no user interaction, with a scope change because escaping a project's restrictions can lead to host or cross-tenant compromise; even a mid-sized municipal IT team in bytom running multi-tenant LXD should treat this as urgent. The offsetting factor is PR:L - the attacker must already be an authenticated LXD user permitted to migrate instances, so this is primarily a privilege-escalation/tenant-isolation break, not an anonymous internet attack. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public POC is present in the provided data, so exploitation is currently theoretical-but-credible; the low complexity and clear write-up in the vendor advisory make weaponization plausible if left unpatched. The absence of an EPSS/KEV signal should not be read as low risk here, only as no observed in-the-wild activity yet.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An authenticated LXD user who is allowed to migrate instances but confined to a restricted project prepares an instance carrying a privileged/high-privilege configuration and migrates it into the restricted project, supplying config overrides during the move. Because LXD does not re-validate those overrides against the project's restrictions, the instance lands with privileges the project should forbid, giving the attacker a foothold to break tenant isolation or reach the host. No public exploit code is identified, but the low attack complexity makes hands-on abuse straightforward for a permitted user.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 12, 2026

Authorization bypass in Canonical LXD lets an authenticated user with instance-migration privileges smuggle high-privilege instance configurations into restricted projects. When an instance is migrated to a target project, LXD applies caller-supplied configuration overrides without re-validating them against the destination project's enforced restrictions, so security controls such as privileged-container or device limits can be defeated. Rated CVSS 9.9 (CWE-863) with a scope-changing impact; no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

Patch available per vendor advisory: upgrade LXD to the fixed release named in Canonical's GHSA-gcr9-5q6r-w625 (https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-gcr9-5q6r-w625); the exact fixed version is not included in the provided intelligence, so verify it directly from that advisory before scheduling the upgrade. Until patched, reduce exposure by tightening authorization: restrict which users and TLS/OIDC identities hold instance-migration or project-move permissions, and avoid granting cross-project operator rights to untrusted or multi-tenant users (trade-off: this can block legitimate self-service migrations). As a compensating control, audit existing instances in restricted projects for disallowed high-privilege config (privileged, security.nesting, raw.lxc, host device passthrough) that may already have been introduced, and consider disabling instance migration into restricted projects at the policy/RBAC layer where feasible (trade-off: operational friction for legitimate workload moves).

Affected VersionsENISA

LXD 5.21.0 <5.21.6
LXD 5.0.0 <5.0.8
LXD 6.0 <6.10

Affected Packages

euvd lxd fix: 5.0.8, 5.21.6, 6.10

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

LXD is Canonical's system container and virtual-machine manager, exposing a REST API to manage instances organized into projects. Projects can enforce 'restricted.*' configuration keys (for example blocking privileged containers, host device passthrough, or nesting) to sandbox tenants. This flaw is a CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization: the migration code path accepts a new configuration for the instance in the target project but fails to run that configuration through the target project's restriction checks that would normally apply at instance creation or edit time. The affected component is identified by CPE cpe:2.3:a:canonical:lxd across all versions listed, meaning the migration/config-validation logic itself is the root cause rather than a specific edge feature.

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Severity by source

Vendor (canonical) PRIMARY 9.9 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 9.9 CRITICAL

Authenticated migration privilege gives PR:L; network API and simple override give AV:N/AC:L; escaping project restrictions to host/cross-tenant justifies S:C with full C/I/A impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
SUSE CRITICAL

Primary rating from Vendor (canonical).

CVSS VectorVendor: canonical

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Aug 12, 2026 - 21:17 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 12, 2026 - 19:27 cve.org
CRITICAL 9.9

DescriptionCVE.org

An authorization bypass vulnerability in LXD allows an authenticated attacker to bypass target project restrictions during instance migration. When migrating an instance to a target project, LXD accepts configuration overrides without validating the new configuration against the target project's enforced restrictions. An attacker can exploit this flaw to move instances with disallowed high-privilege configurations into restricted projects, bypassing security controls.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Canonical LXD contains a critical authorization bypass affecting authenticated users with instance-migration privileges, allowing them to circumvent security boundaries when moving containers between projects. The vulnerability defeats enforced restrictions such as privileged-container limits and device controls, undermining multi-tenant isolation in containerized environments. Organizations using LXD for multi-tenant workloads face immediate risk of unauthorized capability escalation and security policy bypass.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Restrict instance-migration privileges to minimal trusted administrative personnel; disable cross-project instance migrations where operationally feasible; implement enhanced audit logging and alerting on all migration operations; apply network segmentation between projects; require manual approval for any instance migrations until patching becomes available.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 84% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
widely used container/VM manager in Ubuntu and cloud infra, not universal
Data Quality
8 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment Vendor GitHub VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
Very High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

50
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +50
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Critical

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