CVE-2026-9640

Description

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in LXD from 6.0 before 6.9, 5.21.0 before 5.21.5, and 5.0.0 before 5.0.7 regarding the handling of project-restriction policies during snapshot restoration.. An authenticated project operator in a restricted multi-tenant environment can bypass policy restrictions by importing a maliciously crafted instance backup containing restricted configuration keys within a snapshot. When the snapshot is restored, these restricted keys are applied to the live instance without policy validation. Starting the modified instance grants the operator unauthorized host root access.

CVSS v3.1 Score

7.2

HIGH

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0034

Probability of exploitation

0.26%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
canonical	lxd	4.12 — 5.0.7
canonical	lxd	5.21.0 — 5.21.5
canonical	lxd	6.0 — 6.9

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/canonical/lxd/pull/18301 https://github.com/canonical/lxd/pull/18303 https://github.com/canonical/lxd/pull/18304

Exploits

https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-ppq7-4492-5552 https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-ppq7-4492-5552

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-9640? +

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in LXD from 6.0 before 6.9, 5.21.0 before 5.21.5, and 5.0.0 before 5.0.7 regarding the handling of project-restriction policies during snapshot restoration.. An authenticated project operator in a restricted multi-tenant environment can bypass policy restrictions by importing a maliciously crafted instance backup containing restricted configuration keys within a snapshot. When the snapshot is restored, these restricted keys are applied to the live instance without policy validation. Starting the modified instance grants the operator unauthorized host root access. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-9640? +

CVE-2026-9640 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.2 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0034, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-9640? +

CVE-2026-9640 affects products from canonical, specifically: lxd. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-9640? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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