Host-root escalation via omitted VM option checks
Published Apr 9, 2026 · Updated Apr 9, 2026
Privilege escalation in Canonical LXD 4.12 through 6.7 allows remote authenticated users to gain cluster administrator and host root access. The isVMLowLevelOptionForbidden function omits raw.apparmor and raw.qemu.conf, allowing injected AppArmor and QEMU settings to expose the LXD Unix socket inside a VM. Exploitation requires VM-management permissions in a restricted project, after which the socket grants cluster administration and a path to host root.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Canonical LXD 4.12 through 6.7 allows remote authenticated users to gain cluster administrator and host root access. The isVMLowLevelOptionForbidden function omits raw.apparmor and raw.qemu.conf, allowing injected AppArmor and QEMU settings to expose the LXD Unix socket inside a VM. Exploitation requires VM-management permissions in a restricted project, after which the socket grants cluster administration and a path to host root.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-34177
- Published
- Apr 9, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Canonical
- Product
- LXD
- Classifications
- CWE-184, T1068
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.12.0 <5.0.7
- Affected versionversion=5.1.0 <5.21.5
- Affected versionversion=6.0.0 <6.8.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Canonical LXD restricted-project escape proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo