CVE-2026-115378: Incus arbitrary file write in recursive file pull

CVE-2026-115378 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.8 · Published 2026-10-22

Incus is a container and virtual machine management system used to provision and manage computing resources. An attacker with root access inside a virtual machine can manipulate the file transfer service to write arbitrary files to the operator's host system when they run the recursive file pull command, potentially compromising sensitive files like SSH keys or password hashes on the host.

Technologies: LXC Incus. Vendors: LXC.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-115378 exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-115378 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-115378?
Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.8, published 22 October 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?
LXC Incus before 6.0.7, 6.1.0 before 7.0.2, 7.1.0 before 7.5.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-115378?
Yes: fixed in 6.0.7, 7.0.2, 7.5.0. Until then: Avoid running incus file pull -r from untrusted virtual machines, or run the command as an unprivileged user into a dedicated directory to limit the impact of potential file writes. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-115378 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-115378?
Check whether you run LXC Incus at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • Fixed in: 6.0.7, 7.0.2, 7.5.0

Avoid running incus file pull -r from untrusted virtual machines, or run the command as an unprivileged user into a dedicated directory to limit the impact of potential file writes.

Technical details

The sftpRecursivePullFile function in Incus CLI fails to prevent symlink following during recursive file transfers from VMs. A malicious incus-agent can report the same directory entry twice—first as a symlink, then as a file or directory—causing the client to create the symlink on the first pass and traverse through it on the second, escaping the target directory. This requires the operator to run incus file pull -r from a compromised VM and affects only VMs, not containers.

Affected products

  • LXC Incus before 6.0.7, 6.1.0 before 7.0.2, 7.1.0 before 7.5.0

Timeline

  • 2026-09-25: disclosed
  • 2026-10-22: advisory

References

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