Vulnerability · Published Jun 12, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-54056Kitty has an arbitrary file overwrite via symlink following in `kitten dnd` remote drop staging
High 7.6
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in kitty from kovidgoyal. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 19% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions 0.47.0 and 0.47.1, `kitten dnd` can allow a malicious remote drag-and-drop source to overwrite or truncate arbitrary files writable by the local kitty user. Remote `text/uri-list` drops are staged in a temporary directory, but on case-sensitive filesystems duplicate remote basenames are not de-duplicated. An attacker can first create a staged symlink and then send a same-name regular-file entry. The regular-file write uses `utils.CreateAt()` / `openat(O_RDWR|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC)` without `O_NOFOLLOW`, so it follows the attacker-created symlink and writes outside the staging directory before final overwrite confirmation runs. This appears related in class to the file-transfer symlink advisory, but it is a different bug: it affects `kitten dnd` remote drag-and-drop staging, uses different vulnerable code (`kittens/dnd/drop.go` and `tools/utils/file_at_fd.go`), and reproduces on commit `4aa4a5c0567a92553a8c20a88a4352da637fca5d`, after the file-transfer `O_NOFOLLOW` fix. Version 0.47.2 patches the issue.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:14 | kitty | 0.47.3-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54056 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | kitty | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54056 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | kitty | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54056 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| kovidgoyal | kitty | >= 0.47.0, < 0.47.2 |
Weakness: CWE-59 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L
References
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/security/advisories/GHSA-r892-cv7q-fw8x x_refsource_CONFIRM