How broadly exploitable is this vulnerability?

Exploitation is constrained to environments where an attacker can provide or control container or VM images, typically via membership in the `incus` group or equivalent delegated permissions. Once that condition is met, the vulnerability has significant impact on the host.

Does this issue require authenticated or local access?

Yes. An attacker generally needs authenticated local access or delegated control to launch instances with custom images or manipulate `metadata.yaml`. It is not typically exploitable by anonymous remote users without such capabilities.

What is the safest general fix pattern for this vulnerability class?

The core fix pattern is to enforce strict path confinement: canonicalize all file paths derived from untrusted metadata, verify they reside within an allowed directory tree, and reject or abort on any path that attempts to escape that boundary or traverse via symlinks.

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.7)

Path Traversal in Template Handling (CWE-22) in Incus Container Image Metadata

CVE-2026-23954

Published:

Jan 22, 2026

Status:

Analyzed

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

NDV

Recent Vulnerabilities

CWE-306

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.8)

Missing Authentication for Forgot-Password Email Change API (CWE-306)

Account Takeover / Loss of Account Control

February 17, 2026

CWE-77;CWE-78

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Remote Code Execution on the Server Host

February 17, 2026

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Path Traversal / Filesystem Traversal

CWE:

CWE-22

Impact:

Host File Read/Write and Potential Remote Code Execution

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.7)

CVSS Version:

3.1

Vulnerability Type

Category:

Path Traversal / Filesystem Traversal

CWE:

CWE-22

Impact:

Host File Read/Write and Potential Remote Code Execution

Severity:

HIGH RISK

(8.7)

CVSS Version:

3.1

Catch This CVE While Code Is Being Written

Detect vulnerable code directly in pull requests, so CVEs are fixed before merge.

Get Started

Ship clean & secure code faster

START 14 DAYS FREE TRIAL

BOOK A DEMO

Made with Love in San Francisco

355 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Made with Love in San Francisco

355 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Made with Love in San Francisco

355 Bryant St. San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

Ask AI for summary of CodeAnt

Path Traversal in Template Handling (CWE-22) in Incus Container Image Metadata

Summary

Affected Context

Exploit Preconditions

Why This Happens

Potential Impact

General Mitigation Guidance

How Teams Detect Issues Like This

Frequently Asked Questions

Source

Recent Vulnerabilities

CRITICAL RISK

CRITICAL

(9.8)

Missing Authentication for Forgot-Password Email Change API (CWE-306)

HIGH RISK

HIGH

(7.3)

OS Command Injection (CWE-78) in node-sonos-http-api TTS Provider for macOS

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Vulnerability Type

Catch This CVE While Code Is Being Written

Ship clean & secure code faster

Product

Pricing

Company

Legal

Developers

Compare

Product

Pricing

Company

Legal

Developers

Compare

Product

Pricing

Company

Legal

Developers

Compare