CVE-2026-53657: CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions in lima-vm lima
CVE-2026-53657 is a vulnerability in lima-vm's lima product versions prior to 2.1.3. When running with the qemu driver and the guest agent enabled, an arbitrary user inside the VM can access the guest agent socket (/run/lima-guestagent.sock), potentially allowing execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges inside the VM. This issue does not affect the vz driver, which uses vsocks instead of Unix sockets. The vulnerability is patched in version 2.1.3. The default user in the VM can already run commands as root via sudo, so this behavior is not considered a vulnerability by design. Workarounds include using the vz driver or disabling the guest agent.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-53657) involves incorrect default permissions on the lima-guestagent.sock Unix socket when running lima with the qemu driver and the guest agent enabled. An arbitrary user in the VM can access this socket to tunnel commands to privileged daemons, enabling execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges inside the VM. The vulnerability does not affect the vz driver because it uses vsocks instead of Unix sockets. The issue is fixed in lima version 2.1.3. The vendor notes that the default user can already execute commands as root via sudo, so this access is not considered a security flaw in that context.
Potential Impact
An attacker with arbitrary user access inside the VM can execute commands with root privileges within the VM environment by accessing the guest agent socket. This does not affect the host system. The vulnerability is limited to the qemu driver configuration with the guest agent enabled. There are no known exploits in the wild. The impact is high within the VM context but does not extend to host compromise.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available in lima version 2.1.3 that addresses this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to version 2.1.3 or later. Alternatively, on macOS hosts, users can switch to the vz driver (default since v1.0) using 'limactl create --vm-type=vz', which is not affected. Another workaround is to disable the guest agent by creating the VM with 'limactl create --plain'. The vendor notes that the default user can already run commands as root via sudo, so this behavior is by design and not a vulnerability.
CVE-2026-53657: CWE-276: Incorrect Default Permissions in lima-vm lima
Description
CVE-2026-53657 is a vulnerability in lima-vm's lima product versions prior to 2.1.3. When running with the qemu driver and the guest agent enabled, an arbitrary user inside the VM can access the guest agent socket (/run/lima-guestagent.sock), potentially allowing execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges inside the VM. This issue does not affect the vz driver, which uses vsocks instead of Unix sockets. The vulnerability is patched in version 2.1.3. The default user in the VM can already run commands as root via sudo, so this behavior is not considered a vulnerability by design. Workarounds include using the vz driver or disabling the guest agent.
CVSS v3.1
Score 8.2high
Affected software
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-53657) involves incorrect default permissions on the lima-guestagent.sock Unix socket when running lima with the qemu driver and the guest agent enabled. An arbitrary user in the VM can access this socket to tunnel commands to privileged daemons, enabling execution of arbitrary commands with root privileges inside the VM. The vulnerability does not affect the vz driver because it uses vsocks instead of Unix sockets. The issue is fixed in lima version 2.1.3. The vendor notes that the default user can already execute commands as root via sudo, so this access is not considered a security flaw in that context.
Potential Impact
An attacker with arbitrary user access inside the VM can execute commands with root privileges within the VM environment by accessing the guest agent socket. This does not affect the host system. The vulnerability is limited to the qemu driver configuration with the guest agent enabled. There are no known exploits in the wild. The impact is high within the VM context but does not extend to host compromise.
Mitigation Recommendations
A patch is available in lima version 2.1.3 that addresses this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to version 2.1.3 or later. Alternatively, on macOS hosts, users can switch to the vz driver (default since v1.0) using 'limactl create --vm-type=vz', which is not affected. Another workaround is to disable the guest agent by creating the VM with 'limactl create --plain'. The vendor notes that the default user can already run commands as root via sudo, so this behavior is by design and not a vulnerability.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-06-09T20:50:36.876Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
Threat ID: 6a511ed468715ace43d68960
Added to database: 07/10/2026, 16:33:24 UTC
Last enriched: 08/15/2026, 17:17:35 UTC
Last updated: 08/25/2026, 01:43:18 UTC
Views: 92
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