Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-54287

Canonical Lxd 4.0.0 – 5.21.4

Public PoC
Published
02 October 2025
Modified
22 October 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 7.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0034 27th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-54287 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine (CWE-1336) vulnerability in Canonical Lxd. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Template Injection (T1221); ranked at the 27th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Template Injection in instance snapshot creation component in Canonical LXD (>= 4.0) allows an attacker with instance configuration permissions to read arbitrary files on the host system via specially crafted snapshot pattern templates using the Pongo2 template engine.

CWE(s)
CWE-1336

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1221 Template Injection Stealth
Adversaries may create or modify references in user document templates to conceal malicious code or force authentication attempts.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-48323Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2022-2586Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-6714Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-1032Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-38363Shared CWE-1336
CVE-2025-66298Shared CWE-1336
CVE-2025-49142Shared CWE-1336
CVE-2026-22191Shared CWE-1336
CVE-2026-21448Shared CWE-1336
CVE-2026-28496Shared CWE-1336

Affected Assets

canonical
lxd
4.0.0 — 5.21.4 · 6.1 — 6.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.2
  • V1.3.7
  • V1.3.10

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and static analysis can discover missing neutralization of template directives.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation rejects or sanitizes untrusted data before it reaches the template engine, stopping injection of special syntax.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles require use of safe templating APIs and proper escaping of external input.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input neutralization in template engines to prevent injection.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect template-injection flaws but does not itself implement neutralization controls.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and sanitization that directly prevents template-injection weaknesses.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralizing special elements in template engines.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of unsafe template processing but do not prescribe specific neutralization techniques.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping or sandboxing of template directives, directly mitigating CWE-1336.

References