CVE-2026-26982: CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') in ghostty-org ghostty
Ghostty versions prior to 1.3.0 contain an OS command injection vulnerability due to improper neutralization of special control characters in pasted or dropped text. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands by tricking a user into pasting or dragging malicious text containing control characters like Ctrl+C. The vulnerability requires user interaction and is difficult to detect because the malicious characters are invisible in most graphical environments. This issue has been fixed in Ghostty version 1.3.0.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
Ghostty, a cross-platform terminal emulator, improperly handles control characters such as 0x03 (Ctrl+C) in pasted or dropped text. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary OS commands in some shell environments by embedding these control characters in malicious text that a user is tricked into pasting or dragging into the application. The attack requires user interaction and is stealthy due to the invisibility of the control characters in most GUI environments. The vulnerability is identified as CWE-78 (OS Command Injection) and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.3 (medium severity). It affects all versions prior to 1.3.0, where the issue has been fixed.
Potential Impact
An attacker can execute arbitrary OS commands in the context of the user running Ghostty by convincing the user to paste or drag malicious text containing special control characters. This can lead to limited confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts as indicated by the CVSS vector (C:L/I:L/A:L). The attack requires user interaction and is not trivially detected due to invisible control characters.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available in Ghostty version 1.3.0. Users and administrators should upgrade to version 1.3.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until patched, users should avoid pasting or dragging untrusted text into Ghostty to reduce risk.
CVE-2026-26982: CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') in ghostty-org ghostty
Description
Ghostty versions prior to 1.3.0 contain an OS command injection vulnerability due to improper neutralization of special control characters in pasted or dropped text. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands by tricking a user into pasting or dragging malicious text containing control characters like Ctrl+C. The vulnerability requires user interaction and is difficult to detect because the malicious characters are invisible in most graphical environments. This issue has been fixed in Ghostty version 1.3.0.
CVSS v3.1
Score 6.3medium
Affected software
ghostty-org
ghostty
pkg:github/ghostty-org/ghosttyRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
Ghostty, a cross-platform terminal emulator, improperly handles control characters such as 0x03 (Ctrl+C) in pasted or dropped text. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary OS commands in some shell environments by embedding these control characters in malicious text that a user is tricked into pasting or dragging into the application. The attack requires user interaction and is stealthy due to the invisibility of the control characters in most GUI environments. The vulnerability is identified as CWE-78 (OS Command Injection) and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.3 (medium severity). It affects all versions prior to 1.3.0, where the issue has been fixed.
Potential Impact
An attacker can execute arbitrary OS commands in the context of the user running Ghostty by convincing the user to paste or drag malicious text containing special control characters. This can lead to limited confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts as indicated by the CVSS vector (C:L/I:L/A:L). The attack requires user interaction and is not trivially detected due to invisible control characters.
Mitigation Recommendations
A fix is available in Ghostty version 1.3.0. Users and administrators should upgrade to version 1.3.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until patched, users should avoid pasting or dragging untrusted text into Ghostty to reduce risk.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-02-17T01:41:24.605Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 69af3955ea502d3aa8c59c7b
Added to database: 03/09/2026, 21:19:17 UTC
Last enriched: 08/06/2026, 18:57:16 UTC
Last updated: 09/13/2026, 10:01:30 UTC
Views: 215
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