CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-33898 — Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager

High CVSS 8.8

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. Prior to version 6.23.0, the web server spawned by `incus webui` incorrectly validates the authentication token such that an invalid value will be accepted. `incus webui` runs a local web server on a random localhost port. For authentication, it provides the user with a URL containing an authentication token. When accessed with that token, Incus creates a cookie persisting that token without needing to include it in subsequent HTTP requests. While the Incus client correctly validates the value of the cookie, it does not correctly validate the token when passed int the URL. This allows for an attacker able to locate and talk to the temporary web server on localhost to have as much access to Incus as the user who ran `incus webui`. This can lead to privilege escalation by another local user or an access to the user's Incus instances and possibly system resources by a remote attack able to trick the local user into interacting with the Incus UI web server. Version 6.23.0 patches the issue.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.1)
Published
2026-03-27
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • linuxcontainers / incus

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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