CVE-2026-95832
Reflected unknown field names in the kitty colour control escape code allow command execution in the user's shell
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- Secur0
Description
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component in the colour control escape code handler in kitty from 0.47.3 before 0.49.0 allows a program writing to the terminal to execute an arbitrary command in the user's shell, because color_control() in kitty/window.py answers a query for an unrecognised field name by placing that field name into the reply, and write_escape_code_to_child() in kitty/screen.c then writes the reply to the pseudoterminal master, where it is not distinguishable from input typed by the user, without neutralising it for the shell that reads it. The payload is reduced to printable ASCII before the field name is echoed, which is the restriction introduced in 0.47.3 as the fix for CVE-2026-54057, and the record and field separators ; and = are consumed as delimiters, but every other printable character survives, which is sufficient to compose a shell command. A newline is available from handle_remote_ssh() in kitty/window.py, which writes the bytes yielded by get_ssh_data() in kittens/ssh/utils.py, the first of which begin with a newline, to the pseudoterminal master before any credential carried in the request is checked. The reply is framed as an OSC sequence carrying the escape code number, the field name, and the literal value ?. This results in execution of an attacker-chosen command with the privileges of the user running the terminal.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Secur0
- 3 days later
· 3 days later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secur0CNA (assigner) | 4.0 | Critical9.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |
| NVDNVD · Awaiting Analysis | 4.0 | Critical9.3 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.16% · top 95% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.3.
Weakness
Affected products
- affected 0.47.3 – < 0.49.0
What to do
Solution: Upgrade to kitty 0.49.0 or later.
Exploitation: Code execution has been demonstrated via exploitation of this vulnerability.
References (5)
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/03fbdad855490470233954bc810e517027e5e640 (opens in a new tab)patch
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/57bb144d96c0f9d48a2b0a6d43c9a23d2a091cbf (opens in a new tab)related
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.49.0 (opens in a new tab)release-notes
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54057 (opens in a new tab)related
- https://secur0.com/en/cna/cve-list/cve-2026-95832-kitty-color-control-command-execution (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisorytechnical-description
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-95832)Record last updated .