High

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

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

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.

Announced 20 Jul 2026Group revision 1

Original source ↗

CVE-2026-12080

Primary source · Revision 1

Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.

Security context

Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-12080

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/1/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/2/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/3/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/4/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/5/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/6/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/7/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/8/product

Affected versions: Not stated in this record
Fixed versions: Not stated in this record
Prerequisites: Not stated in this record

Structured affected-version data

Original package identities and version rules from this source.

[
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "unaffected",
        "version": "17:10.1.0-17.el9_8.9",
        "lessThan": "*",
        "versionType": "rpm"
      }
    ],
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10",
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6",
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7",
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm-ma",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8",
    "packageName": "virt:rhel/qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux_nvidia:"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat Enterprise Linux for NVIDIA 26",
    "packageName": "qemu-kvm",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "unknown"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4",
    "packageName": "openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  },
  {
    "cpes": [
      "cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4"
    ],
    "vendor": "Red Hat",
    "product": "Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4",
    "packageName": "openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9",
    "collectionURL": "https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/",
    "defaultStatus": "affected"
  }
]

Related CVEs: CVE-2026-12080
Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

high

Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics

Event: #52461 · Revision 1
Added to Heist Feed: Sun, 25 Oct 2026 14:45:01 GMT
Publisher date: Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:40:45 GMT

Read the original announcement

Revision history

25 Oct 2026CVE-2026-12080 · Revision 1Source updated