Kitty has an Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Race Condition in File Transmission Protocol

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-54055
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-06-12 20:16:47 UTC
Updated2026-06-12 20:16:47 UTC
DescriptionKitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.000120000 probability, percentile 0.017910000 (date 2026-06-13)

Problem Types: CWE-59 | CWE-367 | CWE-426 | CWE-59 CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') | CWE-367 CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition | CWE-426 CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
3.1CNADECLARED5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kovidgoyal Kitty affected < 0.47.2 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/security/advisories/GHSA-q446-x7q6-vcxh [email protected] github.com
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