---
id: CVE-2026-12080
title: A flaw was found in the QEMU Guest Agent (qga)
summary: >-
  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
  dire…
severity: high
cvss: 7.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-61
published: '2026-07-20'
updated: '2026-08-24'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12080'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12080'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499603'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/3929'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:88421'
    label: 'RHSA-2026:88421'
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
  - exploit-available
epss: 0.00139
epssPercentile: 0.03285
ingestedAt: '2026-08-24T12:02:51.065Z'
vendor: Red Hat
product: qemu-kvm
affected:
  - qemu-kvm (all versions)
  - qemu-kvm (all versions)
  - qemu-kvm
  - qemu-kvm
  - qemu-kvm-ma
  - 'virt:rhel/qemu-kvm (all versions)'
  - qemu-kvm
  - openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 (all versions)
  - openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 (all versions)
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-07-20T18:03:34.730903Z'
exploits:
  github: 1
  githubRepos:
    - 'https://github.com/M8seven/cve-2026-12080-qemu-guest-agent-authorized-keys'
  checkedAt: '2026-10-27T16:59:15.615Z'
exploitAvailable: true
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.