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Critical · 9.3 CVE-2026-95832 EUVD-2026-87065GHSA-hvwf-v5fx-xvj6

Reflected unknown field names in the kitty colour control escape code allow command execution in the user's shell

Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026 · 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.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Kovid Goyal kitty 0.47.3 – < 0.49.0 0.49.0

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 kitty No fix yet —
Debian 13 kitty No fix yet —
Debian 12 kitty No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 kitty No fix yet —
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS kitty No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS kitty No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS kitty No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS kitty No fix yet —

References