CVE-2026-80430: Kovid Goyal kitty · Link Following
Affects Kovid Goyal kittySource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.6 Medium : upgrade to 0.49.0 when convenient.
Data as of 7 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 0.49.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:L/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Sep 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 7 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade Kovid Goyal kitty to 0.49.0.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Kovid Goyalkitty | Affected
| Fixed in
|
GitHubkittypkg:github/kittyOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
If you cannot patch yet, users should avoid running vulnerable versions of kitty (>=0.47.0 <0.49.0) in untrusted environments or with untrusted input. Monitoring for updates from the vendor is recommended.
Description
CVE-2026-80430 is a medium severity vulnerability in kitty versions 0.47.0 up to but not including 0.49.0. It involves improper link resolution before file access in the drag and drop protocol, allowing a local user to create files and directories outside the intended staging directory by exploiting symlink handling. The vulnerability arises because the code resolves paths by string construction rather than component-wise traversal, ignoring certain error conditions and not validating symlink targets. This can lead to arbitrary file and directory creation at any path writable by the user running kitty.
References
- github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/554908ed0b4d010cf9821c75449c7f7c79a6170a (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/3c3133d3399257492347f535d8d191680803b25d (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.49.0 (opens in a new tab)
- secur0.com/en/cna/cve-list/cve-2026-80430-kitty-dnd-symlink-traversal (opens in a new tab)