Kitty has a shell command injection
CVE-2026-42850

7.4HIGH

Key Information:

Vendor

Kovidgoyal

Status
Kitty
Vendor
CVE Published:
12 June 2026

What is CVE-2026-42850?

Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.0, it is possible to inject commands within the subshell through kitty error. A special escape code will make kitty return an error, this error is not escaped and will be correctly echoed back to the terminal with CRLF, as such it will be run by the shell in use. To exploit this bug, the victim must use a netcat or a similar program to connect to the attacker, or else listening for someone to connect. Once this condition is set, an attacker could pwn the computer of the victim using a special kitty's escape code that will run a command in the shell in use. Version 04.7.0 fixes the issue.

Affected Version(s)

kitty < 0.47.0

References

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/security/advisories/G...
x_refsource_CONFIRM

CVSS V4

Score:
7.4
Severity:
HIGH
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
High
Availability:
None
Attack Vector:
Network
Attack Complexity:
High
Attack Required:
Physical
Privileges Required:
Undefined
User Interaction:
Unknown

Timeline

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

.