Libvirt: swtpm privilege escalation via symlink following (CVE-2026-63622)

Why this deserves its current priority

CVSS is 7.8. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

Affected software not mapped in the current feed; confirm the named product and version against your inventory.

Recommended response

Confirm exposure. Identify whether the named product or interface exists in your inventory, then review the linked upstream references for affected versions and vendor guidance.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Aug 10, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 21, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Aug 10, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source 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.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.