Vulnerability-Lookup

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-16033 (CVE-2026-16033)

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu – Published: 2026-08-12 21:17 – Updated: 2026-08-19 11:01 – Source website

Details

A path traversal vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary host file read or unconstrained file creation. When processing image metadata templates, LXD fails to properly sanitize or restrict template file paths from escaping the instance templates directory (specifically affecting virtual machine / QEMU driver execution paths). An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with malicious template directives containing path traversal sequences, causing LXD to access or write files outside the intended template directory on the host system.

Severity

8.5 (High)


                    
                      CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

N/A (UNKNOWN)


                    
                      medium

References

URL

Type

	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-16033	REPORT
	https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16033	REPORT
	https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisor…	REPORT

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "golang-github-lxc-lxd-dev",
            "binary_version": "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxc2",
            "binary_version": "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd",
            "binary_version": "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-client",
            "binary_version": "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-tools",
            "binary_version": "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS",
        "name": "lxd",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/lxd@2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra-legacy/xenial"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "0.20-0ubuntu4",
        "0.21-0ubuntu3",
        "0.21-0ubuntu5",
        "0.22-0ubuntu1",
        "0.22-0ubuntu2",
        "0.23-0ubuntu1",
        "0.23-0ubuntu2",
        "0.23-0ubuntu3",
        "0.24-0ubuntu2",
        "0.24-0ubuntu3",
        "0.24-0ubuntu4",
        "0.25-0ubuntu1",
        "0.26-0ubuntu2",
        "0.26-0ubuntu3",
        "0.27-0ubuntu1",
        "0.27-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~beta1-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~beta1-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.0~beta2-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~beta2-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~beta3-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~beta3-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~beta3-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~beta3-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu5",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu6",
        "2.0.0~beta4-0ubuntu7",
        "2.0.0~rc1-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc1-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc1-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~rc2-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc2-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~rc3-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc3-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc3-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~rc3-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.0~rc4-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc5-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc6-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc6-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc7-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc7-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu5",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu6",
        "2.0.0~rc8-0ubuntu7",
        "2.0.0~rc9-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0~rc9-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0~rc9-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.0~rc9-0ubuntu5",
        "2.0.0-0ubuntu1",
        "2.0.0-0ubuntu2",
        "2.0.0-0ubuntu3",
        "2.0.0-0ubuntu4",
        "2.0.1-0ubuntu1~16.04.1",
        "2.0.2-0ubuntu1~16.04.1",
        "2.0.3-0ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.2",
        "2.0.4-0ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.1",
        "2.0.5-0ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.1",
        "2.0.8-0ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.1",
        "2.0.8-0ubuntu1~ubuntu16.04.2",
        "2.0.9-0ubuntu1~16.04.1",
        "2.0.9-0ubuntu1~16.04.2",
        "2.0.10-0ubuntu1~16.04.1",
        "2.0.10-0ubuntu1~16.04.2",
        "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.2",
        "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4",
        "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm1",
        "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm2",
        "2.0.11-0ubuntu1~16.04.4+esm3"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd",
            "binary_version": "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-client",
            "binary_version": "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm3"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-tools",
            "binary_version": "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm3"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS",
        "name": "lxd",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/lxd@3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm3?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra/bionic"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "2.18-0ubuntu6",
        "2.19-0ubuntu1",
        "2.20-0ubuntu3",
        "2.20-0ubuntu4",
        "2.21-0ubuntu1",
        "2.21-0ubuntu2",
        "2.21-0ubuntu3",
        "2.21-0ubuntu4",
        "3.0.0~beta2-0ubuntu3",
        "3.0.0~beta3-0ubuntu3",
        "3.0.0~beta5-0ubuntu2",
        "3.0.0~beta7-0ubuntu1",
        "3.0.0-0ubuntu1",
        "3.0.0-0ubuntu2",
        "3.0.0-0ubuntu3",
        "3.0.0-0ubuntu4",
        "3.0.1-0ubuntu1~18.04.1",
        "3.0.2-0ubuntu1~18.04.1",
        "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.1",
        "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2",
        "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm1",
        "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm2",
        "3.0.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.2+esm3"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd",
            "binary_version": "1:0.10"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-client",
            "binary_version": "1:0.10"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "lxd-tools",
            "binary_version": "1:0.10"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:20.04:LTS",
        "name": "lxd",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/lxd@1:0.10?arch=source\u0026distro=focal"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "1:0.7",
        "1:0.8",
        "1:0.9",
        "1:0.10"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "A path traversal vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary host file read or unconstrained file creation. When processing image metadata templates, LXD fails to properly sanitize or restrict template file paths from escaping the instance templates directory (specifically affecting virtual machine / QEMU driver execution paths). An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with malicious template directives containing path traversal sequences, causing LXD to access or write files outside the intended template directory on the host system.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2026-16033",
  "modified": "2026-08-19T11:01:25Z",
  "published": "2026-08-12T21:17:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-16033"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-16033"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-9hcm-hxh5-7xxh"
    }
  ],
  "related": [],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2026-16033"
  ]
}

CVE-2026-16033 (GCVE-0-2026-16033)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-12 20:11 – Updated: 2026-08-13 12:46

Title

Arbitrary file read+write on host via templates/ symlink in malicious image

Summary

Severity

8.5 (High)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

SSVC

Exploitation: poc Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-08-13 12:45 UTC

CWE

CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Assigner

canonical mitre root

References

1 reference

URL	Tags
https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisor…	vdb-entryvendor-advisory

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
Canonical	LXD	Affected: 4.0.0 , < 4.0.12 (semver) Affected: 5.0.0 , < 5.0.8 (semver)

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-16033",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "poc"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-08-13T12:45:51.004847Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-08-13T12:46:08.117Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "exploit"
            ],
            "url": "https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-9hcm-hxh5-7xxh"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "LXD",
          "platforms": [
            "Linux"
          ],
          "product": "LXD",
          "repo": "https://github.com/canonical/lxd",
          "vendor": "Canonical",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.0.12",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "4.0.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "5.0.8",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "5.0.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "A path traversal vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary host file read or unconstrained file creation. When processing image metadata templates, LXD fails to properly sanitize or restrict template file paths from escaping the instance templates directory (specifically affecting virtual machine / QEMU driver execution paths). An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with malicious template directives containing path traversal sequences, causing LXD to access or write files outside the intended template directory on the host system."
        }
      ],
      "impacts": [
        {
          "capecId": "CAPEC-126",
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "Path Traversal"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "capecId": "CAPEC-153",
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "Input Data Manipulation"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackVector": "NETWORK",
            "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "baseScore": 8.5,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
            "integrityImpact": "LOW",
            "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
            "scope": "CHANGED",
            "userInteraction": "NONE",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "format": "CVSS",
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-22",
              "description": "CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (\u0027Path Traversal\u0027)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-12T20:11:08.781Z",
        "orgId": "cc1ad9ee-3454-478d-9317-d3e869d708bc",
        "shortName": "canonical"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "vdb-entry",
            "vendor-advisory"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-9hcm-hxh5-7xxh"
        }
      ],
      "solutions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "Upgrade to LXD version 4.0.12 or later, or 5.0.8 or later."
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "title": "Arbitrary file read+write on host via templates/ symlink in malicious image"
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "cc1ad9ee-3454-478d-9317-d3e869d708bc",
    "assignerShortName": "canonical",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-16033",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-12T20:11:08.781Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-07-17T08:44:31.450Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-13T12:46:08.117Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.

Action not permitted

UBUNTU-CVE-2026-16033 (CVE-2026-16033)

CVE-2026-16033 (GCVE-0-2026-16033)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature

Related by attack behaviour