CVE-2026-54055: kovidgoyal kitty Link Following

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-54055 is a medium (CVSS 5.0) Link Following vulnerability in kovidgoyal kitty. EPSS estimates a 0.10% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 0.6% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 12-06-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 15-06-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

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.

• CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
• CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race ConditionThe product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
• CWE-426Untrusted Search PathThe product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control.