CVE-2026-33945 | Abitrary file write through systemd-creds option

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.

Published: 2026-03-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-33945 is rated Moderate Risk (52.4/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-33945

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.45% +0.43%
2 2026-04-21 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
3 2026-03-27 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-33945

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.9 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.1 6.0 [email protected]
9.6 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.1 5.8 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-33945

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-33945

GHSA-q4q8-7f2j-9h9f · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: go — Incus has an abitrary file write through its systemd-creds options

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-33945

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-33945 unimportant priority: Debian including 2 source packages (incus, lxd), 5 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-33945
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-33945
suse high CVE-2026-33945 severity important: SUSE including 5 source package names (incus-6.23-1.1, incus-bash-completion-6.23-1.1, incus-fish-completion-6.23-1.1, incus-tools-6.23-1.1, incus-zsh-completion-6.23-1.1), 5 product×package rows across 1 product lines (openSUSE Tumbleweed): Fixed 5. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-33945/
ubuntu high CVE-2026-33945 high priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (incus, lxd), 11 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): DNE 4, needs-triage 3, not-affected 3, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-33945

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-33945

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linuxcontainers incus < 6.23.0 cpe:2.3:a:linuxcontainers:incus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-33945

cvelogic Threat Intelligence