# CVE-2026-50642: Terminal Escape Injection in diff‑so‑fancy

> Attackers can inject terminal escape sequences to manipulate output, spoof filenames, or hijack clipboard, potentially leading to command execution during code review.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:L/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 29 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q6jf-93cp-9xwf

## What is CVE-2026-50642?

CVE-2026-50642 is a medium-severity vulnerability in diff-so-fancy, published on 29 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

diff‑so‑fancy does not properly sanitize non‑SGR terminal control sequences before outputting diff data. The application only strips ANSI SGR sequences while allowing other control characters, including carriage return (\r) and escape sequences (e.g., OSC, CSI), to pass through unsanitized.

An attacker can embed malicious control sequences in filenames, diff metadata, or file content that are rendered directly in the terminal during diff viewing. This can lead to output manipulation, including filename spoofing, terminal screen clearing, and clipboard injection via supported escape sequences.

Successful exploitation may mislead users during code review, alter terminal state, or result in unintended command execution through clipboard hijacking.

This issue has been fixed in the commit 9c81294

Weakness: CWE-116 (Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-50642?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-50642?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-50642 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-50642 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-50642 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-50642 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-50642 is a medium-severity vulnerability in diff-so-fancy, published on 29 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-50642 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: diff-so-fancy. 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-2026-50642/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-50642/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50642
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50642
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50642

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-50642/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.