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

Severity: high (CVSS 7.3 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-07-20 · updated 2026-10-30
Weakness: CWE-61

Description

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.

Affected products

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18: all versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: all versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: all versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: all versions — fixed in 17:10.1.0-17.el9_8.9
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5: all versions

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 17:10.1.0-17.el9_8.9. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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