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CVE-2026-63622

Libvirt: swtpm privilege escalation via symlink following

No known exploitation. EPSS puts it in the 7th percentile. Only a workaround so far.

CVSS 3.17.8HighEPSS percentile7th0.2% chance in 30 daysCISA KEVNot listedNo confirmed exploitation
No public exploit knownFixWorkaroundNo fixed build yet

Published Updated Sources: CVE.org, NVD

NVD CVE.org

What to do

No fixed build is published yet. The vendor describes a workaround.

Check it yourselfA free OpenVAS check exists for this CVE. Run it against your hosts.Is your organisation exposed?Request an assessment to establish which checks fit your systems.

What it is

From the CVE record

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.

In plain language

No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.

Exploitation

Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.

EPSS7th
CISA KEV

Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.

Public exploits

No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.

EPSS

0.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 7th percentile of scored CVEs.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.

Lifecycle

22 events over 68 days, from the signal feeds we watch.

  1. Workaround availablerecord updated
  2. Workaround availableworkaround available, record updated, record updated
  3. Workaround availablerecord updated
  4. Workaround availableworkaround available, record updated, record updated
  5. Workaround availablerecord updated
  6. Workaround availablerecord updated

Affected products

And 8 more affected products. See all after sign-in

Technical detail

CVSS 3.1 vector

Open in the CVSS calculator

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Scored 7.8 by NVD.

How it is reached

  • Attack Vector LocalRequires local access to the vulnerable system (e.g. local login, malicious file)
  • Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
  • Privileges Required LowRequires basic user-level privileges
  • User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation

Scope

  • Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself

Impact if exploited

  • Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
  • Integrity HighTotal loss of integrity — attacker can modify any data in the component
  • Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable

Weaknesses

ATT&CK techniques

Mapped from the weaknesses above (CWE to ATT&CK), not observed in attacks.

Sources

References in the record

And 7 more references. See all after sign-in

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