CVE-2026-42850: kovidgoyal kitty Command Injection

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-42850 is a high (CVSS 8.8) Command Injection vulnerability in kovidgoyal kitty. EPSS estimates a 0.41% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 33.7% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 12-06-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 16-06-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

• CWE-77Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')The product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.