The effect of underground water levels on the stability of soft rock tunnel faces was analyzed in this paper. The underground water levels was divided into three cases, and the Hoek–Brown failure criterion was introduced into the kinematic approach by "tangent method", then three kinds of stability analysis model of tunnel faces under different underground water levels was constructed. Based on the principle of virtual power, the expressions of supporting force on the tunnel faces of soft rock under different underground water levels were derived. Moreover, the optimal upper limit solution of the supporting force on tunnel faces was obtained by using the sequential quadratic programming algorithm with Matlab software. After that, the effect of underground water levels on the supporting force of tunnel faces was analyzed, and the damage range of tunnel faces under different underground water levels was given. This paper provides some reference value for setting parameters of shield tunneling in water-rich section.