Missing authorization in the kitty drag and drop protocol allows a client to obtain dragged file contents without a drop

Summary

CVECVE-2026-80432
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerSecur0
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-25 17:17:14 UTC
Updated2026-09-25 17:17:14 UTC
DescriptionMissing Authorization in the drop handling path of the drag and drop protocol in kitty from 0.47.0 before 0.49.0 allows a program writing to the terminal to obtain the contents of files dragged over the window even when the user never completes the drop, because drop_enqueue_request() in kitty/dnd.c serves a drag data request without first checking the drop state of the window, so a client that issues the request while a drag is merely hovering receives the data offered for the drag. In the same file, drop_left_child(), which runs when the drag leaves the window without a drop having occurred, releases the offered MIME list but retains the pending request state, the open file descriptor and its main loop transfer timer, the directory handles, the URI list and the pending MIME name, so a client can continue to read through a retained directory handle, and an in-flight file transfer continues to stream, when no drag is in progress. The file contents are read from the filesystem by the kitty process itself using the paths the drag source offered. This results in disclosure of the contents of files the user moved over the window without ever releasing them into it.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 6 MEDIUM from 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/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: 0.001230000 probability, percentile 0.017790000 (date 2026-09-27)

Problem Types: CWE-862 | CWE-862 CWE-862 Missing Authorization


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.04daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289aSecondary6MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNACVSS6MEDIUMCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Passive
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
None
Sub Conf.
High
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Kovid Goyal Kitty affected 0.47.0 0.49.0 semver Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/026d11f517da17bfd3c35ea502057babdfbe5828 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a github.com
github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.49.0 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a github.com
secur0.com/en/cna/cve-list/cve-2026-80432-kitty-dnd-data-before-drop 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a secur0.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: C4sh3R (en)

CNA: Cristian Fernández Cornejo (en)

CNA: Xoán M. Otero Jorge (en)

CNA: Secur0 CNA (en)

CNA: Kovid Goyal (en)

Additional Advisory Data

Solutions

CNA: Upgrade to kitty 0.49.0 or later.

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