# CVE-2026-12080: Qemu-kvm: qemu-guest-agent: local privilege escalation via symlink attack in guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys

Status: published. Published: 2026-07-20. Updated: 2026-11-06.

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.

## Remediation

- workaround: If the `guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys` command is not required, it can be disabled by adding it to the qemu-guest-agent block list (qemu-ga --block-rpcs). This prevents the vulnerable code path from being reached while preserving all other guest-agent functionality. (source: CNA: redhat)

## Affected products and versions

- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 (qemu-kvm): ≥ 17:10.1.0-17.el9_8.9; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22 (openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9): ≥ 4.22.9.8.202611032353-0; < * (unaffected, rpm). Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 (qemu-kvm): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (qemu-kvm): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (qemu-kvm): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (qemu-kvm-ma): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (virt:rhel/qemu-kvm): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26 (qemu-kvm): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 (openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat
- Red Hat / Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 (openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9): Version range not reported. Source: CNA: redhat

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 7.3 (high); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H; source: CNA: redhat

- CVSS 3.1: 7.3 (high); CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H; source: NVD: secalert@redhat.com

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.14% as of 2026-11-06; percentile 3.34%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable no; technical impact total; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-61

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:88421 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:95346 (CNA: redhat; vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12080 (CNA: redhat; vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499603 (CNA: redhat; issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT)

- https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/3929 (CNA: redhat)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:88421 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:95346 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12080 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499603 (secalert@redhat.com)

- https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/3929 (secalert@redhat.com)

## Provenance

- CNA: redhat: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12080; retrieved 2026-11-06; source updated 2026-11-06

- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12080; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated 2026-11-06

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-12080; retrieved 2026-11-06; source updated Not reported

Revision: c3b89553bcf0f073a606a35461f16449067ebb323df5a409608d4a8a97ccd72e

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-12080

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