{"id":"CVE-2026-54055","aliases":["DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54055","EUVD-2026-36556","GHSA-q446-x7q6-vcxh","UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54055","USN-8763-1"],"status":"published","title":"Kitty has an Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Race Condition in File Transmission Protocol","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.00072,"percentile":0.00046,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-367","CWE-426","CWE-59"],"published":"2026-06-12T20:03:17Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:00Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"kitty","fixed_in":["0.41.1-2+deb13u2"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"kitty","fixed_in":["0.47.3-1"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:24.04:LTS","package":"kitty","fixed_in":["0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4+esm2"],"sources":["osv"]},{"ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:26.04:LTS","package":"kitty","fixed_in":["0.45.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm2"],"sources":["osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:12","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["0.26.5-5","0.30.1-1","0.31.0-1","0.31.0-2","0.31.0-3","0.31.0-4","0.32.0-1","0.32.1-1","0.32.2-1","0.33.0-2","0.33.1-1","0.34.1-1","0.35.1-1","0.35.2-1","0.36.1-1","0.36.4-1","0.36.4-2","0.36.4-3","0.37.0-1","0.38.1-1","0.39.0-1","0.39.1-1","0.40.0-1","0.41.1-1","0.41.1-2","0.42.1-1","0.42.2-1","0.43.1-1","0.44.0-1","0.45.0-1","0.45.0-2","0.46.1-1","0.46.2-1","0.47.0-1","0.47.0-2","0.47.0-3","0.47.3-1","0.47.4-1","0.48.2-1","0.48.2-1.1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:13","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.41.1-2+deb13u2"}]}],"versions":["0.41.1-2","0.41.1-2+deb13u1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Debian:14","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.47.3-1"}]}],"versions":["0.41.1-2","0.42.1-1","0.42.2-1","0.43.1-1","0.44.0-1","0.45.0-1","0.45.0-2","0.46.1-1","0.46.2-1","0.47.0-1","0.47.0-2","0.47.0-3"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:24.04:LTS","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4+esm2"}]}],"versions":["0.26.5-3ubuntu2","0.26.5-5ubuntu1","0.31.0-3","0.31.0-4","0.32.2-1","0.32.2-1build2","0.32.2-1build3","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.1","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.2","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.3","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4+esm1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:25.10","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["0.39.1-1","0.41.1-2","0.41.1-2+deb13u1build0.25.10.1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:26.04:LTS","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.45.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm2"}]}],"versions":["0.41.1-2","0.43.1-1","0.44.0-1","0.45.0-1","0.45.0-1build1","0.45.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:24.04:LTS","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4+esm2"}]}],"versions":["0.26.5-3ubuntu2","0.26.5-5ubuntu1","0.31.0-3","0.31.0-4","0.32.2-1","0.32.2-1build2","0.32.2-1build3","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.1","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.2","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.3","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4","0.32.2-1ubuntu0.4+esm1"],"bundled":4},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:Pro:26.04:LTS","package":"kitty","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.45.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm2"}]}],"versions":["0.41.1-2","0.43.1-1","0.44.0-1","0.45.0-1","0.45.0-1build1","0.45.0-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"],"bundled":4}],"products":[{"vendor":"kitty project","product":"kitty"},{"vendor":"kovidgoyal","product":"kitty"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/security/advisories/GHSA-q446-x7q6-vcxh","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","exploit","Mitigation","Vendor Advisory","advisory","report"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/54xxx/CVE-2026-54055.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54055","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-54055","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-54055","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54055","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8763-1","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42850","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42851","tags":["report"]},{"url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-54057","tags":["report"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-54055","title":"Kitty has an Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Race Condition in File Transmission Protocol","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:03:17.907Z","modified":"2026-06-15T19:28:17.461Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-59","CWE-367","CWE-426"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T13:38:09.774038Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-36556","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:03:17Z","modified":"2026-06-15T19:28:17Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T18:20:41.428781Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-54055","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:16:47.45Z","modified":"2026-10-26T11:10:00.157Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-59","CWE-367","CWE-426"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:12:23.846948Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-54055","title":"Kitty has an Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Race Condition in File Transmission Protocol","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:03:17.907Z","modified":"2026-10-28T02:31:00.813455081Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-367","CWE-426","CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:08.132336Z"},{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54055","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:16:47.45Z","modified":"2026-10-27T09:47:43.32921631Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:45:57.236551Z"},{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54055","description":"Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.2, a local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in kitty's file transmission protocol where a child process running in the terminal can write to arbitrary files on the filesystem by exploiting a TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) race condition between symlink validation and file creation. The `os.open()` call used to create files does not use `O_NOFOLLOW`, allowing an attacker to create a symlink between the initial stat check and the actual file open, causing the write to follow the symlink to an arbitrary destination. Version 0.47.2 fixes the issue.","status":"published","published":"2026-06-12T20:16:00Z","modified":"2026-09-15T20:16:36.014670218Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L","level":"medium"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T16:56:41.382716Z"},{"id":"USN-8763-1","title":"kitty vulnerabilities","description":"It was discovered that kitty incorrectly escaped error messages when\nhandling specially crafted terminal escape sequences. A remote attacker\ncould possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary commands.\n(CVE-2026-42850)\n\nIt was discovered that kitty incorrectly handled remote edit requests in\nterminal output. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute\narbitrary code with the user's privileges.\n(CVE-2026-42851)\n\nThai Son Dinh and Nguyen Huy Vu Dung discovered that kitty incorrectly\nhandled destination paths in its file transmission protocol. A local\nattacker could possibly use this issue to overwrite arbitrary files with\nthe user's privileges.\n(CVE-2026-54055)\n\nIt was discovered that kitty incorrectly sanitized responses to color\nqueries. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary\ncommands with the user's privileges. This issue only affected Ubuntu\n26.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-54057)","status":"published","published":"2026-09-15T13:31:45Z","modified":"2026-09-16T02:57:27.385295756Z","updated_at":"2026-11-02T16:58:26.907654Z"}]}}