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

highCVSS 7.3CVE-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.

Details

Source: NVD Recent CVEs (US · database · site)
Severity: high — CVSS 7.3
Published: 2026-07-20
Last updated: 2026-07-21
Exploitation: Not in CISA KEV at last sync

Original advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12080

Exploitation outlook

EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.

Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-120800.14% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 4% of all scored CVEs.

Referenced CVEs

CVE	CSIRTS overview	External
CVE-2026-12080	coverage & exploitation status	NVD · CVE.org

Same CVEs, other sources

How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.

Recent advisories for QEMU Guest Agent

A cluster of recent advisories against the same product widens the attack surface — attackers routinely chain freshly published CVEs on one product, so review these together.

highCVE-2026-12080: Qemu-kvm: qemu-guest-agent: local privilege escalation via symlink attack in guest-ssh-add-aut…msrc · 2026-07-14