← CVE index
Vulnerability record/PUBLISHED/Published Jul 20, 2026 12:40:45 UTC

CVE-2026-12080

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.

Base score7.3/ 10
SeverityHighCVSS 3.1

Exploitability / impact

CVSS metric breakdown

Vector-derived attributes
Base severityHigh
Attack vectorLocalAV
Attack complexityLowAC
Privileges requiredLowPR
User interactionRequiredUI
ScopeUnchangedS
Confidentiality impactHighC
Integrity impactHighI
Availability impactHighA
CVSS vector stringCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS communicates standardized severity and impact characteristics. It does not establish whether a system is exploitable in your specific environment.

Record context

CVE Numbering Authorityredhat
Last updatedNov 6, 2026 22:10:17 UTC
PublishedJul 20, 2026 12:40:45 UTC
ReservedJun 12, 2026 12:44:56 UTC

Credits

  • Red Hat would like to thank Valentino Paulon for reporting this issue.