incus: Improper Privilege Management
CVE-2025-64507 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in incus from Lxc, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected incus versions: < 6.0.6; >= 6.1.0, < 6.19.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.18% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of incus you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 4.0 | 8.6 | High | CNA (github.com) |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
Official description
Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. An issue in versions prior to 6.0.6 and 6.19.0 affects any Incus user in an environment where an unprivileged user may have root access to a container with an attached custom storage volume that has the `security.shifted` property set to `true` as well as access to the host as an unprivileged user. The most common case for this would be systems using `incus-user` with the less privileged `incus` group to provide unprivileged users with an isolated restricted access to Incus. Such users may be able to create a custom storage volume with the necessary property (depending on kernel and filesystem support) and can then write a setuid binary from within the container which can be executed as an unprivileged user on the host to gain root privileges. A patch for this issue is expected in versions 6.0.6 and 6.19.0. As a workaround, permissions can be manually restricted until a patched version of Incus is deployed.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Privilege Management
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
- Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
- Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
More Improper Privilege Management vulnerabilities (CWE-269)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
Patches and release notes
- github.com/lxc/incus/issues/2641Exploit, Issue Tracking
- github.com/lxc/incus/pull/2642Exploit, Issue Tracking
Other vulnerabilities in incus
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 7.1 High severity
- 8.5 High severity
- 7.1 High severity
Recent Improper Privilege Management vulnerabilities
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
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