Is CVE-2026-48769 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-48769 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-48769?

Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 21 August 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

github.com/lxc/incus (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0; github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0; github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.2.0; github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go) < 7.2.0, SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.2.0.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48769?

Yes. github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later; github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-48769 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-48769?

Check whether you run github.com/lxc/incus (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go) or one of the others listed 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.

CVE-2026-48769: LXC Incus arbitrary file write via image hash path traversal

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48769?

Yes. github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later; github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

Q: How is CVE-2026-48769 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Q: Am I affected by CVE-2026-48769?

Check whether you run github.com/lxc/incus (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go) or one of the others listed 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.

CVE-2026-48769 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.9 · Published 2026-08-21

Incus, a container and virtual machine management tool, is vulnerable to a flaw that allows a malicious image server to write files anywhere on the host system. By tricking the software into downloading a specially crafted image, an attacker can gain full administrative (root) control over the server. This could lead to complete system takeover, data theft, or permanent disruption of services.

Technologies: github.com/lxc/incus (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go). Vendors: Go.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-48769 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-48769 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-48769?: Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 21 August 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: github.com/lxc/incus (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0; github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0; github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.2.0; github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go) < 7.2.0, SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.2.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-48769?: Yes. github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later; github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-48769 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-48769?: Check whether you run github.com/lxc/incus (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go), github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go) or one of the others listed 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

github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later
```
go get github.com/lxc/incus/v7@v7.2.0
```
github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd (Go): upgrade to 7.2.0 or later
```
go get github.com/lxc/incus/v7/cmd/incusd@v7.2.0
```

Technical details

A path traversal vulnerability exists in the Incus daemon (incusd) when handling image downloads via the 'direct' protocol (source.type=url). The daemon trusts the 'Incus-Image-Hash' HTTP header provided by the remote server and uses it as a filename via filepath.Join without adequate validation. An attacker can provide a hash containing '../' sequences to escape the intended image directory and write arbitrary content to the host filesystem. Because the SHA-256 validation occurs only after the file has been created and populated, and cleanup is delayed until the connection closes, an attacker can achieve persistent code execution (e.g., via cron) before the daemon identifies the mismatch. This is patched in version 7.2.0.

Affected products

LXC Incus < 7.2.0

Identifiers

CVE-2026-48769
GHSA-f6m5-xw2g-xc4x
GO-2026-5806

Timeline

2026-06-25: advisory
2026-06-26: patched

References

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