CVE-2026-25996 Inspektor Gadget uses unsanitized ANSI Escape Sequences In `columns` Output Mode

Medium 6.9 Published 12 Feb 2026 Updated 12 Feb 2026

Attackers can inject ANSI escape sequences into operator terminals via malicious container events, potentially causing terminal manipulation or confusion.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2026-25996?

CVE-2026-25996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in inspektor-gadget, published on 12 Feb 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Inspektor Gadget is a set of tools and framework for data collection and system inspection on Kubernetes clusters and Linux hosts using eBPF. String fields from eBPF events in columns output mode are rendered to the terminal without any sanitization of control characters or ANSI escape sequences. Therefore, a maliciously forged – partially or completely – event payload, coming from an observed container, might inject the escape sequences into the terminal of ig operators, with various effects. The columns output mode is the default when running ig run interactively.

Weakness: CWE-150

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-25996?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget. It affects 1 product.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget` Go	All versions	`0.49.1`
`github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget` Go	All versions	`0.49.1`
`github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget` Go	All versions	`0.49.1`

Products include Linuxfoundation Inspektor Gadget.

How do I fix CVE-2026-25996?

Upgrade github.com/inspektor-gadget/inspektor-gadget to 0.49.1 or later.

Is CVE-2026-25996 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-25996 exists.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-34r5-6j7w-235f, GO-2026-5068.