CVE-2025-54293 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability affecting Canonical's LXD container hypervisor, specifically versions 5.21 and 6.0. The flaw exists in the log file retrieval functionality on Linux hosts, where improper validation of pathname inputs allows an authenticated remote attacker to manipulate log file names or use symbolic links to access arbitrary files outside the intended restricted directory. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-22, indicating improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory. Exploitation does not require user interaction and can be performed remotely with low attack complexity, but does require authenticated access with limited privileges. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality by enabling unauthorized reading of sensitive host files, potentially exposing credentials, configuration files, or other critical data. Integrity and availability impacts are not indicated. The CVSS 4.0 vector (7.1) reflects network attack vector, low complexity, no user interaction, and partial confidentiality impact with no impact on integrity or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches are linked yet, indicating a need for prompt attention from affected organizations. LXD is widely used in Linux environments for container management, often in cloud, development, and production infrastructures, making this vulnerability significant for organizations relying on containerization for workload isolation and deployment.

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability can be substantial, particularly for enterprises and service providers utilizing LXD for container orchestration and virtualization. Unauthorized access to arbitrary host files can lead to exposure of sensitive corporate data, intellectual property, or credentials that may facilitate further lateral movement or privilege escalation. This is especially critical for sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government. The ability to read host files undermines the isolation guarantees of containers, potentially compromising multi-tenant environments and cloud service providers operating in Europe. Additionally, the breach of confidentiality could lead to regulatory non-compliance under GDPR, resulting in legal and financial repercussions. Although exploitation requires authentication, the risk remains high in environments where user credentials may be compromised or where insider threats exist. The absence of known exploits provides a window for mitigation but also underscores the urgency for proactive defense.

European organizations should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Immediately audit and restrict access to LXD management interfaces to trusted administrators only, employing strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). 2) Monitor and log all access to LXD log retrieval functions to detect anomalous or unauthorized file access attempts. 3) Employ strict input validation and sanitization on any user-supplied file names or paths related to LXD operations, if custom integrations exist. 4) Isolate LXD hosts within segmented network zones with limited exposure to reduce attack surface. 5) Regularly update and patch LXD installations as soon as Canonical releases a fix for this vulnerability. 6) Conduct internal penetration testing and vulnerability assessments focusing on container management systems to identify potential exploitation paths. 7) Educate administrators on the risks of path traversal vulnerabilities and the importance of secure container management practices. 8) Consider deploying host-based intrusion detection systems (HIDS) to alert on suspicious file access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts.