CVE-2026-40197
Incus has a Nil-Pointer Dereference via Custom Volume Import
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.
How to fix CVE-2026-40197
To remediate CVE-2026-40197, upgrade the affected package to a fixed version below.
- —upgrade to 6.0.4-2+deb13u7 or later
- —upgrade to 5.0.2-5+deb12u6 or later
- —upgrade to 7.0.0 or later
Is CVE-2026-40197 being exploited?
Low — EPSS is 0.1%, meaning exploitation activity has not been observed at scale.
Affected packages (3)
- from 0, < 6.0.4-2+deb13u7