CVE-2026-12080
HIGHQemu-kvm: qemu-guest-agent: local privilege escalation via symlink attack in guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys
Title source: cnaDescription
A flaw was found in the QEMU Guest Agent (qga). A local unprivileged user can exploit a vulnerability in the guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys command handler by manipulating symbolic links. This can occur either through a deterministic directory-symlink bypass or a Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) file-symlink race. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to gain ownership of arbitrary root-owned files or directories, leading to root access. This vulnerability requires an external management layer (e.g., libvirt) to trigger the affected code path.
References (3)
Core 3
Core References
Vdb Entry, X_Refsource_Redhat vdb-entry
x_refsource_redhat
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12080
Issue Tracking, X_Refsource_Redhat issue-tracking
x_refsource_redhat
RHBZ#2499603
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499603
Scores
CVSS v3
7.3
EPSS
0.0014
EPSS Percentile
3.7%
Attack Vector
LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CISA SSVC
Vulnrichment
Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical Impact
total
Details
CWE
CWE-61
Status
published
Products (7)
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Red Hat/Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26
Red Hat/Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Published
Jul 20, 2026
Tracked Since
Jul 20, 2026