CVE-2026-12080

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

CVSS 3.1 7.3 HIGHCheck source for fixed versionsKEV status unknown

Original advisory

cve-program · CVE-2026-12080

Published

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.

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Affected versions, risk and source history

Exploitation and risk

Source status

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Risk history

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Advisory history

5 saved versions

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9 Nov 2026 18:02:10 UTC