CVE-2026-41526: KDE KCoreAddons · Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences
Affects KDE KCoreAddonsSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 6.25 when convenient.
Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 6% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 6.25
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 28 Apr 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade KDE KCoreAddons to 6.25.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| KDEKCoreAddons | Affected
| Fixed in
|
AI-suggested
If you cannot patch yet, avoid using the vulnerable function in security-critical contexts or apply application-level input validation to mitigate injection of control characters where possible.
Description
CVE-2026-41526 is a medium severity vulnerability in KDE KCoreAddons before version 6.25. The vulnerability arises from the KShell::quoteArgs function, which fails to properly neutralize shell metacharacters, allowing escape from the intended shell environment. This affects all applications using this function in security-critical contexts, particularly via the sendInput() function that can be exploited by injecting control characters such as \x01.
References
- invent.kde.org/frameworks/kcoreaddons/ (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/KDE/kcoreaddons/blob/50d360736c399502fedf203e95482b0d0e5a3ea2/src/lib/util/kshell.h (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/KDE/kcoreaddons/blob/50d360736c399502fedf203e95482b0d0e5a3ea2/src/lib/util/kshell.h (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/KDE/kcoreaddons/releases/tag/v6.25.0 (opens in a new tab)
- kde.org/info/security/advisory-20260427-1.txt (opens in a new tab)