Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Incus versions before 7.2.0 can let a malicious image or instance backup access files outside its intended boundary. An attacker could read sensitive host files, overwrite or create host files, and potentially execute commands, threatening every workload managed by that host.
Executive priority
Treat this as an immediate patching priority for affected Incus hosts, particularly shared or tenant-facing systems. Host compromise could expose secrets, alter infrastructure, disrupt workloads, and expand impact beyond an individual container or virtual machine.
Technical view
The flaw involves a templates/ symlink in a crafted Incus image or instance backup. During processing, it can cause arbitrary host file reads and writes. The CVSS 3.1 score is 9.9 with low complexity, limited privileges required, no user interaction, and impact crossing a security boundary.
Likely exposure
Exposure exists where Incus versions earlier than 7.2.0 process attacker-controlled or otherwise malicious images or instance backups. Risk is especially serious in multi-tenant or delegated environments. The supplied sources do not establish that ordinary network exposure alone is sufficient or fully describe the required privileges.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed as KEV in the supplied bundle, and no cited source reports active exploitation. A plausible outcome is command execution through hostile host-file modification, but the sources describe this as possible rather than confirmed in attacks.
Researcher notes
The issue is categorized as CWE-73 and centers on symlink-influenced external file access during malicious artifact processing. Public evidence supplied here does not fully document affected workflows, forensic indicators, privilege prerequisites, or observed exploitation. Avoid interpreting the network CVSS vector as proof that every deployment is directly internet-exploitable.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade all Incus deployments to version 7.2.0 or later.
- Until upgraded, reject images and instance backups from untrusted or insufficiently verified sources.
- Review the vendor advisory for any additional environment-specific guidance.
Validation and detection
- Record the Incus version on every host; versions earlier than 7.2.0 remain affected.
- Identify whether untrusted or tenant-supplied images or instance backups were imported.
- Review host file integrity and security telemetry around suspicious image or backup operations.
- Confirm upgraded systems report Incus 7.2.0 or later.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-73: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-48752 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.9 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H3.16GitHub_MVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.9CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-vxp5-584q-c479CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
External Control of File Name or Path
External Control of File Name or Path represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.