On Tue, Jul 14, 2026 at 1:37 PM Daniel P. Berrangé <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 09, 2026 at 01:57:07PM +0300, Kostiantyn Kostiuk wrote:
> > Before this commit, when qmp_guest_ssh_add_authorized_keys adds an
> > SSH key for an existing local user, the agent (running as root) decides
> > whether to create the user's .ssh directory with a symlink-following
> > directory test, and then writes and chowns the authorized_keys file.
> > A local unprivileged user who owns their home directory can pre-stage
> > their .ssh directory (or the authorized_keys file) as a symbolic link
> > so that, when the host or operator triggers a key add for that user,
> > the root agent follows the link and transfers ownership of an arbitrary
> > root-owned file or directory to the unprivileged user, who can then
> rewrite
> > it to obtain root
> >
> > Fixes: CVE-2026-12080
> > Fixes: https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/work_items/3929
> >
> > Reported-by: Valentino Paulon <[email protected]>
> > Signed-off-by: Kostiantyn Kostiuk <[email protected]>
> > ---
> >  qga/commands-posix-ssh.c | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
> >  1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/qga/commands-posix-ssh.c b/qga/commands-posix-ssh.c
> > index 661972e34e..4e717d8ae8 100644
> > --- a/qga/commands-posix-ssh.c
> > +++ b/qga/commands-posix-ssh.c
> > @@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ mkdir_for_user(const char *path, const struct passwd
> *p,
> >          return false;
> >      }
> >
> > -    if (chown(path, p->pw_uid, p->pw_gid) == -1) {
> > +    if (lchown(path, p->pw_uid, p->pw_gid) == -1) {
> >          error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
> >                           "failed to set ownership of directory '%s'",
> >                           path);
> > @@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ write_authkeys(const char *path, const GStrv keys,
> >          return false;
> >      }
> >
> > -    if (chown(path, p->pw_uid, p->pw_gid) == -1) {
> > +    if (lchown(path, p->pw_uid, p->pw_gid) == -1) {
> >          error_setg_errno(errp, errno,
> >                           "failed to set ownership of directory '%s'",
> >                           path);
> > @@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ qmp_guest_ssh_add_authorized_keys(const char
> *username, strList *keys,
> >      g_auto(GStrv) authkeys = NULL;
> >      strList *k;
> >      size_t nkeys, nauthkeys;
> > +    int fd;
> >
> >      reset = has_reset && reset;
> >
> > @@ -138,15 +139,25 @@ qmp_guest_ssh_add_authorized_keys(const char
> *username, strList *keys,
> >      ssh_path = g_build_filename(p->pw_dir, ".ssh", NULL);
> >      authkeys_path = g_build_filename(ssh_path, "authorized_keys", NULL);
> >
> > +    fd = open(ssh_path, O_DIRECTORY | O_NOFOLLOW);
> > +    if (fd == -1) {
> > +        if (errno != ENOENT) {
> > +            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "failed to open directory
> '%s'", ssh_path);
> > +            return;
> > +        }
> > +    }
>
> IIUC, you're trying to protect against the possbility that /home/fred/.ssh
> is
> a symlink to some other privileged directory.
>
> >      if (!reset) {
> >          authkeys = read_authkeys(authkeys_path, NULL);
> >      }
> >      if (authkeys == NULL) {
> > -        if (!g_file_test(ssh_path, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR) &&
> > -            !mkdir_for_user(ssh_path, p, 0700, errp)) {
> > +        if (fd == -1 && !mkdir_for_user(ssh_path, p, 0700, errp)) {
> >              return;
> >          }
> >      }
> > +    if (fd >= 0) {
> > +        close(fd);
> > +    }
>
> Does holding open an FD on a directory prevent that directory being
> altered ?  Even if it prevents it being deleted, surely there's still
> a race where the dir could be renamed, andd .ssh turned back into a
> symlink ?
>

Yes, you are right; race is possible


>
> Rather than do these checks and switch chown->lchown, I wonder if we
> are better off having the agent simply change its effective UID/GID
> while it updates the SSH key files ? That way the agent would be
> confined just like the user would be and we don't need to implement
> special cases, nor would we have to think about race conditions.
>
>
So, you propose to call seteuid/setegid before any I/O operation?

Best Regards,
Kostiantyn Kostiuk.



> >
> >      nauthkeys = authkeys ? g_strv_length(authkeys) : 0;
> >      authkeys = g_realloc_n(authkeys, nauthkeys + nkeys + 1, sizeof(char
> *));
> > @@ -167,11 +178,13 @@ qmp_guest_ssh_remove_authorized_keys(const char
> *username, strList *keys,
> >                                       Error **errp)
> >  {
> >      g_autofree struct passwd *p = NULL;
> > +    g_autofree char *ssh_path = NULL;
> >      g_autofree char *authkeys_path = NULL;
> >      g_autofree GStrv new_keys = NULL; /* do not own the strings */
> >      g_auto(GStrv) authkeys = NULL;
> >      GStrv a;
> >      size_t nkeys = 0;
> > +    int fd;
> >
> >      if (!check_openssh_pub_keys(keys, NULL, errp)) {
> >          return;
> > @@ -182,8 +195,19 @@ qmp_guest_ssh_remove_authorized_keys(const char
> *username, strList *keys,
> >          return;
> >      }
> >
> > -    authkeys_path = g_build_filename(p->pw_dir, ".ssh",
> > -                                     "authorized_keys", NULL);
> > +    ssh_path = g_build_filename(p->pw_dir, ".ssh", NULL);
> > +    authkeys_path = g_build_filename(ssh_path, "authorized_keys", NULL);
> > +
> > +    fd = open(ssh_path, O_DIRECTORY | O_NOFOLLOW);
> > +    if (fd == -1) {
> > +        if (errno != ENOENT) {
> > +            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "failed to open directory
> '%s'", ssh_path);
> > +            return;
> > +        }
> > +    } else {
> > +        close(fd);
> > +    }
> > +
> >      if (!g_file_test(authkeys_path, G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
> >          return;
> >      }
> > @@ -215,18 +239,31 @@ GuestAuthorizedKeys *
> >  qmp_guest_ssh_get_authorized_keys(const char *username, Error **errp)
> >  {
> >      g_autofree struct passwd *p = NULL;
> > +    g_autofree char *ssh_path = NULL;
> >      g_autofree char *authkeys_path = NULL;
> >      g_auto(GStrv) authkeys = NULL;
> >      g_autoptr(GuestAuthorizedKeys) ret = NULL;
> >      int i;
> > +    int fd;
> >
> >      p = get_passwd_entry(username, errp);
> >      if (p == NULL) {
> >          return NULL;
> >      }
> >
> > -    authkeys_path = g_build_filename(p->pw_dir, ".ssh",
> > -                                     "authorized_keys", NULL);
> > +    ssh_path = g_build_filename(p->pw_dir, ".ssh", NULL);
> > +    authkeys_path = g_build_filename(ssh_path, "authorized_keys", NULL);
> > +
> > +    fd = open(ssh_path, O_DIRECTORY | O_NOFOLLOW);
> > +    if (fd == -1) {
> > +        if (errno != ENOENT) {
> > +            error_setg_errno(errp, errno, "failed to open directory
> '%s'", ssh_path);
> > +            return NULL;
> > +        }
> > +    } else {
> > +        close(fd);
> > +    }
> > +
> >      authkeys = read_authkeys(authkeys_path, errp);
> >      if (authkeys == NULL) {
> >          return NULL;
> > --
> > 2.53.0
> >
>
> With regards,
> Daniel
> --
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>
>

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