CVE-2026-72842 OpenWrt luci-app-lxc ACL Inconsistency Authentication Bypass
Low-privileged users can exploit path traversal in the LXC plugin to execute root commands on the OpenWrt host.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-72842?
CVE-2026-72842 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in openwrt luci, published on 13 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
luci-app-lxc contains an ACL inconsistency vulnerability that allows low-privileged authenticated LuCI users to access backend container management routes without proper authorization checks. Attackers can exploit path traversal via `/.%2E` in the `lxc_name` parameter to escape container directories and control host-side scripts executed through `lxc.hook.start-host`, achieving root code execution on the OpenWrt host.
Weakness: CWE-73
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72842?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72842?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-72842 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-72842 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72842 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-q7c4-ghwq-63xh.