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Ubuntu Security Noticespublished ()ingested

USN-8763-1: kitty vulnerabilities

AI summary · glm-5.3

Ubuntu patches three kitty terminal flaws including remote command execution via crafted escape sequences.

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8763-1 fixes multiple vulnerabilities in the kitty terminal emulator. CVE-2026-42850 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands via improperly escaped error messages triggered by crafted terminal escape sequences. CVE-2026-42851 enables arbitrary code execution with the user's privileges through mishandled remote edit requests in terminal output. CVE-2026-54055 lets a local attacker overwrite arbitrary files via destination paths in kitty's file transmission protocol.

  • CVE-2026-42850: remote command execution via crafted terminal escape sequences in error messages
  • CVE-2026-42851: arbitrary code execution with user privileges via remote edit requests
  • CVE-2026-54055: local arbitrary file overwrite via file transmission protocol paths
  • Terminal users exposed when rendering attacker-controlled output from remote systems

Vulnerabilities mentionedAll →

CVEVulnerabilityCVSSEPSSFlagsAffectedExposurePublished
CVE-2026-42851
+2 in the same advisory: …42850 …54055
Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal.

Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.0, a program able to write bytes to a kitty terminal — a remote SSH peer, a downloaded file viewed with `cat`, a log line, an email body rendered in `less`, an issue body in a TUI, etc. — can cause kitty to execute attacker-supplied Python inside the running kitty process, with the user's full privileges. There is no approval prompt, no remote-control permission requirement, no shell-integration interaction, no clipboard touch, and no editor interaction. Version 0.47.0 fixes the issue.

NVD description · AI analysis pending
7.8
group max
<1% PoC
  • kovidgoyal kitty
Full article

It was discovered that kitty incorrectly escaped error messages when handling specially crafted terminal escape sequences. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary commands. (CVE-2026-42850) It was discovered that kitty incorrectly handled remote edit requests in terminal output. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code with the user's privileges. (CVE-2026-42851) Thai Son Dinh and Nguyen Huy Vu Dung discovered that kitty incorrectly handled destination paths in its file transmission protocol. A local attacker could possibly use this issue to overwrite arbitrary files with the user's privileges. (CVE-2026-54055) It was discovered that…

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