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KittyApplication · Kovidgoyal

CVE-2026-54055

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.47.2 or later.
See remediation →
50/100
Remediation priority · Moderate

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
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.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Kitty terminal's file transmission protocol contains a TOCTOU race condition where symlink validation occurs separately from file creation. An attacker with code execution in a child process can create a symlink between the stat check and os.open() call, causing file writes to redirect to arbitrary locations. The vulnerability stems from os.open() not using O_NOFOLLOW, allowing symlink traversal.

MitigationUpgrade Kitty to version 0.47.2 or later. As a workaround, avoid running untrusted code in Kitty's child processes and disable file transfer functionality if not needed.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
KittyApplication
Affected:< 0.47.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed Kitty version
    Run `kitty --version` in a terminal or check your package manager's installed version (e.g., `dpkg -l kitty`, `rpm -qi kitty`, `brew list --versions kitty`)
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 0.47.2 (e.g., 0.47.1, 0.46.0, etc.)
  2. Verify file transfer capability presence
    Check if the `kitty +kitten transfer` command is available by running `kitty +kitten transfer --help`
    Affected if The file transfer kitten is present and functional in your installation
  3. Check for active or recent file transfers
    Review shell history or logs for commands containing `kitty +kitten transfer` or usage of Kitty's file transmission protocol
    Affected if You or your users have transmitted files using Kitty's built-in transfer mechanism
  4. Inspect open file descriptors during transfers
    If file transfers are occurring, monitor for symlink usage: run `ls -la /proc/<kitty-pid>/fd/` during an active transfer to check if symlinks are being followed
    Affected if Transfers are allowed to proceed without O_NOFOLLOW protection, indicating the vulnerable code path is reachable

You are affected if your installed Kitty version is below 0.47.2 AND the file transfer functionality (kitty +kitten transfer) is accessible or has been used in your environment.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.47.2 or later
Fixed in 0.47.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Kitty to version 0.47.2 or later. As a workaround, avoid running untrusted code in Kitty's child processes and disable file transfer functionality if not needed.

Recommended fix High confidence

0.47.2

  1. Verify current kitty version by running: kitty --version
  2. For systems with package managers: Update using your system's package manager (e.g., 'brew upgrade kitty' on macOS, 'sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade kitty' on Debian/Ubuntu, 'sudo dnf upgrade kitty' on Fedora)
  3. Alternatively, download version 0.47.2 from the official kitty GitHub releases page: https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.47.2
  4. For source compilation: Clone the repository, checkout tag v0.47.2, and build according to the instructions in the repository
  5. After upgrade, verify the fix by running: kitty --version (should show 0.47.2 or higher)

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Kitty Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-54055 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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