# CVE-2026-63622: Libvirt: swtpm privilege escalation via symlink following > A local attacker can exploit symlink following in libvirt to escalate privileges from the swtpm sandbox to root-level file ownership control. - **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 10 Aug 2026 - **Updated:** 5 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-95616, BELL-CVE-2026-63622, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-63622, GHSA-r329-fjhj-3cw3, RHSA-2026:64773, RHSA-2026:65515, RHSA-2026:65516, RHSA-2026:65803, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-63622 ## What is CVE-2026-63622? CVE-2026-63622 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 10 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description A flaw was found in libvirt. A local attacker, specifically a process running as the confined `swtpm` user, could exploit a symlink-following vulnerability in the `virFileChownFiles()` function. By planting a symbolic link within the `swtpm` state directory, the attacker could trick the root-level libvirt daemon into changing the ownership of an arbitrary file to the `swtpm` user. This allows for privilege escalation from the `swtpm` sandbox to root-level file ownership control. Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-63622? | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `libvirt` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-client` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-client-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-client-qemu` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-common-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-config-network` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-config-nwfilter` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-interface` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-interface-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-network` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-network-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-nodedev` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-nodedev-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-nwfilter` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-nwfilter-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-qemu` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-qemu-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-secret` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-secret-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-core` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-core-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-disk` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-disk-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-iscsi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-logical` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-logical-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-mpath` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-mpath-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-rbd` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-rbd-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-scsi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-driver-storage-scsi-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-kvm` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-lock` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | | `libvirt-daemon-lock-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 0:10.10.0-8.11.el10_0 | ## How do I fix CVE-2026-63622? Apply the vendor's patch. ## Is CVE-2026-63622 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-63622 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-63622 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-63622 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, published on 10 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-63622 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-2026-63622/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63622/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-63622 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63622 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-63622 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63622/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.