CVE-2026-41253 Code injection in iTerm2

Medium 6.9 Published 18 Apr 2026 Updated 20 Apr 2026

Attackers can execute arbitrary code in iTerm2 by tricking users into viewing a malicious text file that abuses terminal protocol signaling.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-41253?

CVE-2026-41253 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in iTerm2, published on 18 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In iTerm2 through 3.6.9, displaying a .txt file can cause code execution via DCS 2000p and OSC 135 data, if the working directory contains a malicious file whose name is valid output from the conductor encoding path, such as a pathname with an initial ace/c+ substring, aka "hypothetical in-band signaling abuse." This occurs because iTerm2 accepts the SSH conductor protocol from terminal output that does not originate from a legitimate conductor session.

Weakness: CWE-829

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-41253?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Iterm2 Iterm2.

How do I fix CVE-2026-41253?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-41253 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.

Is CVE-2026-41253 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-41253 exists.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-5pgv-4jf4-9r43.