Reflected unknown field names in the kitty colour control escape code allow command execution in the user's shell
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-95832 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Secur0 |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-25 13:17:24 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-25 16:17:30 UTC |
| 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. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 9.3 CRITICAL from 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a
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: 0.001600000 probability, percentile 0.045170000 (date 2026-09-27)
Problem Types: CWE-74 | CWE-74 CWE-74 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | Secondary | 9.3 | CRITICAL | 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/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 9.3 | CRITICAL | 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 |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
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
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Kovid Goyal | Kitty | affected 0.47.3 0.49.0 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| secur0.com/en/cna/cve-list/cve-2026-95832-kitty-color-control-command-ex... | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | secur0.com | |
| github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/57bb144d96c0f9d48a2b0a6d43c9a23d2a091cbf | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | github.com | |
| www.cve.org/CVERecord | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | www.cve.org | |
| github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/03fbdad855490470233954bc810e517027e5e640 | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | github.com | |
| github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.49.0 | 4daa8cea-433a-44bd-9456-53b127fc289a | github.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: Gabriel Machado Tavares (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.
Exploits
CNA: Code execution has been demonstrated via exploitation of this vulnerability.