Use after free in the kitty drag and drop protocol when a drag source item is aborted mid-transfer
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Active
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · Low · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Use After Free in the drag source path of the drag and drop protocol in kitty from 0.47.0 before 0.49.0 allows a program writing to the terminal to cause the terminal to read from and write to freed heap memory, because drag_remote_file_data() in kitty/dnd.c holds a DragRemoteItem pointer into an array it does not own, calls toplevel_data_for_drag() or subdir_data_for_drag(), and then continues to use that pointer. Those helpers, and add_payload() and populate_dir_entries() which they call, report errors through the abrt() macro, which expands to cancel_drag() followed by a plain return, and cancel_drag() calls drag_free_offer(), which frees the array the pointer refers to. The helpers return void, so the caller receives no indication that the teardown happened, and proceeds to call all_children_complete() on the freed pointer, which dereferences it, and then to write through it. That dereference is guarded by a local flag that is set when the request carries no payload and announces no further data, which is the same condition that selects the finalisation block of add_payload(), so the error paths in that block reach it: a create that fails because an entry of the same name already exists, because the client may declare two entries with one name and the create operations use O_CREAT with O_EXCL and symlinkat(), a mkdirat() failure other than EEXIST, and the directory entry allocation paths. Both branches reach it. In the top level branch the caller's pointer is never cleared, so clearing the owning structure's own pointers during teardown does not help. In the sub directory branch subdir_data_for_drag() sets the caller's pointer to NULL on entry and assigns it only after its own last error path, so its own aborts leave the caller with NULL and are stopped by a null check, but it then calls add_payload() with that pointer set, and an abort there leaves the caller holding a freed child node inside the item tree, which drag_free_offer() frees by recursion. This results in undefined behaviour in the terminal process, reachable from the byte stream of any program running in the window.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kovidgoyal | kitty | 0.47.0 to before 0.49.0 | 0.49.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- kitty Vendorkovidgoyal Affected 0.47.0 to before 0.49.0 Fixed in 0.49.0 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA kitty (Kovid Goyal) Fixed in 0.49.0
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
Kovid Goyal kitty 0.49.0
6 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 5 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-63703 Reflected unknown field names in the kitty colour control escape code allow command execution in the user's shellPriority MEDIUM 41
- TI-2026-55508 Out-of-bounds write in the kitty text sizing protocol allows termination of the terminal processPriority LOW 29
- TI-2026-55509 Missing authorization in the kitty drag and drop protocol allows a client to obtain dragged file contents without a dropPriority LOW 26
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-95834
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3v4f-mq3r-g3gv
References
More kovidgoyal vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-26023 Kitty has a Heap Buffer Over-Read/Write via Integer Overflow in compose_rectangles Bounds Check CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2026-51129 Kitty: Command injection into the child shell via chained @kitty-echo + @kitty-ssh DCS escape sequences CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.3
- TI-2026-26014 Kitty has a Heap Buffer Overflow in its Graphics Protocol Handler CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-51386 Missing authorization in kovidgoyal calibre CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-51385 calibre: Bypass of Python template restrictions via nested `template()` leading to RCE CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.5
- TI-2026-38585 calibre: Arbitrary Code Execution in Template Formatter via Book Metadata CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-95834 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-95834 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3v4f-mq3r-g3gv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-95834 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences