CVE-2026-54055 PUBLISHED

Kitty has an Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Race Condition in File Transmission Protocol

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 11.06.2026 Published: 12.06.2026 Updated: 12.06.2026

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.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
CVSS Score: 5

Product Status

Vendor kovidgoyal
Product kitty
Versions
  • Version < 0.47.2 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') CWE
  • CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition CWE
  • CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path CWE