# CVE-2026-42850: Kitty has a shell command injection

> Attackers can execute arbitrary shell commands on a victim's machine by sending specially crafted escape codes to a Kitty terminal session.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-42850, GHSA-p64q-59hq-5q65, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-42850

## What is CVE-2026-42850?

CVE-2026-42850 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in kovidgoyal kitty, published on 12 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. In versions prior to 0.47.0, it is possible to inject commands within the subshell through kitty error. A special escape code will make kitty return an error, this error is not escaped and will be correctly echoed back to the terminal with CRLF, as such it will be run by the shell in use. To exploit this bug, the victim must use a netcat or a similar program to connect to the attacker, or else listening for someone to connect. Once this condition is set, an attacker could pwn the computer of the victim using a special kitty's escape code that will run a command in the shell in use. Version 04.7.0 fixes the issue.

Weakness: CWE-77 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-42850?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kovidgoyal Kitty.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-42850?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-42850 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-42850 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in kovidgoyal kitty

- [CVE-2026-33642](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33642/): Kitty has a Heap Buffer Over-Read/Write via Integer Overflow in compose_rectangles Bounds Check (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2026-42851](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42851/): @kitty-edit DCS + --color=geninclude vulnerable to Unauthenticated in-process RCE (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-54056](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54056/): Kitty has an arbitrary file overwrite via symlink following in `kitten dnd` remote drop staging (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2026-33633](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33633/): Kitty has a Heap Buffer Overflow in its Graphics Protocol Handler (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-54057](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54057/): Kitty vulnerable to command injection via unsanitized OSC 21 query reply (high 7.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-42850 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-42850 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in kovidgoyal kitty, published on 12 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-42850 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: kovidgoyal kitty. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42850/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42850/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42850
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42850
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-42850

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-42850/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.