Description

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. Prior to version 7.2.0, missing authorization checks exist for instance copying where an attacker knowing the name of a project that they don't have access to and the name of an instance in that project can copy the instance to a new project. This issue could allow an attacker to access secrets in instances they are not authorized to access. Version 7.2.0 patches the issue.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.7",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-21T15:16:42.003Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-21T15:16:42.003Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An authorization bypass vulnerability exists in Incus prior to version 7.2.0, specifically within the instance copying mechanism.\nThe vulnerability allows an unauthorized attacker who possesses knowledge of a target project name and an instance name within that restricted project to duplicate the instance into a new, accessible project.\nThis security flaw impacts the confidentiality and access control enforcement of Incus system containers and virtual machines.\nThe primary risk implication is the unauthorized exposure and exfiltration of sensitive data, configuration details, or cryptographic secrets residing within instances that the attacker lacks administrative or read privileges to access.\nExploitation requires the attacker to possess prior knowledge of specific resource identifiers, namely the exact name of an unauthorized project and the target instance contained therein.\nVersion 7.2.0 fully addresses and remediates this authorization check deficiency.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of the vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks during the handling of instance copy operations within the Incus API and management backend.\nThe vulnerable component is responsible for processing cross-project or intra-project instance duplication requests without adequately validating whether the requesting security context possesses sufficient permissions over the source project and source instance.\nAffected software versions include all releases of Incus prior to version 7.2.0.\nThe exploitation method relies on an ID-guessing or reconnaissance strategy where an unprivileged or restricted user leverages side-channel knowledge, enumeration, or leaked metadata to identify a valid source project name and an instance name belonging to that isolated namespace.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the attacker identifies or guesses the precise name of a restricted project to which they have been denied explicit access control permissions. Second, the attacker discovers or infers the name of a target instance operating within that same restricted project boundary. Third, the attacker initiates an instance copy command or API request specifying the unauthorized source project and source instance parameters.\nBecause the API logic fails to enforce mandatory authorization validation verifying access rights to the source project prior to executing the copy routine, the backend service processes the request.\nThe instance is successfully duplicated and materialized within a new project destination fully controlled by the attacker.\nPost-exploitation impact involves the comprehensive compromise of data confidentiality, as the newly copied instance retains the filesystem state, environment variables, configuration files, and application secrets of the original source instance, allowing the attacker to inspect and extract sensitive information offline."
}