CVE-2026-12080: CWE-61
Source GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.3 High : patch Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 soon.
Data as of 7 Nov 2026, 01:05 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (redhat) | CVSS 3.1 | 7.3 |
|---|
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 6 Nov 2026.
What to do
Patches and advisories
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9qemu-kvm | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10qemu-kvm | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6qemu-kvm | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7qemu-kvm | Affected– | Fixed in– |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7qemu-kvm-ma | Affected– | Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
Red Hat has released an official security update for qemu-kvm packages that fixes this vulnerability. Users of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and its variants should apply the update as detailed in Red Hat Advisory RHSA-2026:88421. Since the vulnerability requires an external management layer to trigger, ensuring that the guest agent and management tools are updated mitigates the risk. No additional mitigations are specified by the vendor.
Description
A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the QEMU Guest Agent (qga) due to improper handling of symbolic links in the guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys command handler. An unprivileged local user can exploit this flaw via deterministic directory-symlink bypass or a TOCTOU file-symlink race to gain ownership of arbitrary root-owned files or directories, potentially leading to root access. Exploitation requires an external management layer such as libvirt to trigger the vulnerable code path. Red Hat has issued a security advisory with patches available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and related variants.
References
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12080 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:88421 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:95346 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12080 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2499603 (opens in a new tab)
- gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/3929 (opens in a new tab)