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

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to root via symlink attacks in QEMU Guest Agent, requiring an external management layer to trigger the vulnerability.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-93006, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-12080, ECHO-3b36-2d36-acbd, GHSA-9xqq-92hv-jj34, OESA-2026-4084, OESA-2026-4085, OESA-2026-4086, OESA-2026-4087, RLSA-2026:88421, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-12080

## What is CVE-2026-12080?

CVE-2026-12080 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 20 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-61 (UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-12080?


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `qemu-kvm` | Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 7:10.1.0-17.el9_8.9 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-12080?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-12080 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-12080 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Technical writeup of CVE-2026-12080: local privilege escalation in the QEMU Guest Agent (qga) guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys handler via symlink following. (github_poc): https://github.com/M8seven/cve-2026-12080-qemu-guest-agent-authorized-keys

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-12080 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-12080 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 20 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-12080 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-12080/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-12080/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-12080
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12080
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-12080

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-12080/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.