CVE-2026-54056

Kitty has an arbitrary file overwrite via symlink following in `kitten dnd` remote drop staging

State
Published
Severity
7.6 High
Published
Jun 12, 2026
Updated
Jun 15, 2026
Reserved
Jun 11, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

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.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
3.17.6 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:LGitHub_M

Weaknesses

  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Affected Products

ProductVersions
kittykovidgoyal
  • >= 0.47.0, < 0.47.2Affected

References

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