CVE-2026-12080
Qemu-kvm: qemu-guest-agent: local privilege escalation via symlink attack in guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys
CVSS Score
7.3
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th
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.
| CWE | CWE-61 |
| Vendor | red hat |
| Product | red hat enterprise linux 10 |
| Published | Jul 20, 2026 |
| Last Updated | Jul 20, 2026 |
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CVSS v3 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Affected Versions
Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26
All versions affected Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
All versions affected References
Credits
Red Hat would like to thank Valentino Paulon for reporting this issue.