---
id: CVE-2026-53657
aliases:
  - GHSA-2j9v-p4xj-cjw2
title: >-
  Lima: An arbitrary user in a QEMU VM could gain the root privilege in the VM
  via the guest agent socket
summary: >-
  Lima: An arbitrary user in a QEMU VM could gain the root privilege in the VM
  via the guest agent socket
severity: high
cvss: 8.2
cwe:
  - CWE-276
  - CWE-668
vendor: lima-vm
product: github.com/lima-vm/lima/v2
ecosystem: go
affected:
  - github.com/lima-vm/lima/v2 <= 2.1.2
patched:
  - github.com/lima-vm/lima/v2 2.1.3
published: '2026-08-14'
updated: '2026-08-14'
source: GHSA
sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2j9v-p4xj-cjw2'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/security/advisories/GHSA-2j9v-p4xj-cjw2'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53657'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/commit/8a45892378d22f40505c31a38f786a07701b6d50
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/commit/b08cae8a670cf916d5da11c48a6de76dabd89678
  - url: 'https://github.com/lima-vm/lima/releases/tag/v2.1.3'
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2j9v-p4xj-cjw2'
tags:
  - ghsa
  - go
epss: 0.00197
epssPercentile: 0.08306
ingestedAt: '2026-08-14T20:20:21.598Z'
---

## Overview

### Impact
On an instance of Lima running with `qemu` driver, an arbitrary user in the VM could access `/run/lima-guestagent.sock` when the guest agent is enabled.

This could result in running an arbitrary command with the root privileges in the VM (**not on the host**), as `lima-guestagent.sock` provides the tunneling service for an arbitrary address, including a Unix socket address for privileged daemons like D-Bus.

This vulnerability is not exploitable on `vz` driver, as the guest agent uses vsocks instead of Unix sockets.

### Patches
Patched in Lima v2.1.3 (8a45892378d22f40505c31a38f786a07701b6d50)

> [!NOTE]
> The default user account in the VM can still run an arbitrary command as the root via the guest agent socket.
> This is not a vulnerability, as the user can already run an arbitrary command with `sudo` by design.

### Workarounds
- On macOS hosts, use `vz` driver instead of `qemu` (`limactl create --vm-type=vz`. Default since v1.0.)
- Or, disable the guest agent (`limactl create --plain`)

## Affected packages

- `github.com/lima-vm/lima/v2 <= 2.1.2`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `github.com/lima-vm/lima/v2 2.1.3`