dbcve.org
IncusApplication · Linuxcontainers

CVE-2026-33945

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.23.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. Incus instances have an option to provide credentials to systemd in the guest. For containers, this is handled through a shared directory. Prior to version 6.23.0, an attacker can set a configuration key named something like `systemd.credential.../../../../../../root/.bashrc` to cause Incus to write outside of the `credentials` directory associated with the container. This makes use of the fact that the Incus syntax for such credentials is `systemd.credential.XYZ` where `XYZ` can itself contain more periods. While it's not possible to read any data this way, it's possible to write to arbitrary files as root, enabling both privilege escalation and denial of service attacks. Version 6.23.0 fixes the issue.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Incus versions before 6.23.0 contain a path traversal vulnerability in credential handling where specially crafted systemd.credential keys containing '../' sequences (e.g., 'systemd.credential.../../../../../../root/.bashrc') allow writing to arbitrary files outside the intended credentials directory as root, enabling privilege escalation and denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to Incus version 6.23.0 or later which includes input validation and path sanitization to prevent credential key path traversal attacks.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
IncusApplication
Affected:< 6.23.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if Incus is installed
    Run `which incus` or `incus --version`
    Affected if Incus is not found or the command fails
  2. Determine installed Incus version
    Run `incus --version` and compare the output to 6.23.0
    Affected if The version number is less than 6.23.0 (e.g., 6.22.0, 6.21.0, etc.)
  3. Identify instances using systemd.credential
    Run `incus list` to list all instances, then for each instance run `incus config show <instance-name>` and look for `systemd.credential` in the configuration
    Affected if Any instance has a `systemd.credential` key configured
  4. Inspect credential values for traversal sequences
    For instances with systemd.credential, examine the values using `incus config get <instance-name> systemd.credential` or view raw config. Search for `../` patterns within the credential value strings
    Affected if The credential value contains `../` sequences that escape the credentials directory boundary (e.g., `../../../etc/passwd`)

User is affected if running Incus version below 6.23.0 AND has any instance configured with systemd.credential containing directory traversal sequences.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.23.0 or later
Fixed in 6.23.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Incus version 6.23.0 or later which includes input validation and path sanitization to prevent credential key path traversal attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

Incus 6.23.0

  1. Upgrade Incus to version 6.23.0 or later
  2. After upgrading, verify the installation by checking the Incus version with: incus version
  3. Ensure any Incus instances are restarted if necessary to pick up the patched version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Incus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-33945 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-33945 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data