CVE-2026-80432Missing authorization in the kitty drag and drop protocol allows a client to obtain dragged file contents without a drop
- 6.0MediumCVSS base score
- 0.12%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 98% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
Missing Authorization in the drop handling 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 obtain the contents of files dragged over the window even when the user never completes the drop, because drop_enqueue_request() in kitty/dnd.c serves a drag data request without first checking the drop state of the window, so a client that issues the request while a drag is merely hovering receives the data offered for the drag. In the same file, drop_left_child(), which runs when the drag leaves the window without a drop having occurred, releases the offered MIME list but retains the pending request state, the open file descriptor and its main loop transfer timer, the directory handles, the URI list and the pending MIME name, so a client can continue to read through a retained directory handle, and an in-flight file transfer continues to stream, when no drag is in progress. The file contents are read from the filesystem by the kitty process itself using the paths the drag source offered. This results in disclosure of the contents of files the user moved over the window without ever releasing them into it.
Timeline
ID reserved
By Secur0
- 30 days later
· 30 days later
Published
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secur0CNA (assigner) | 4.0 | Medium6.0 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N |
| NVDNVD · Awaiting Analysis | 4.0 | Medium6.0 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.12% · top 98% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.0.
Affected products
- affected 0.47.0 – < 0.49.0
What to do
Solution: Upgrade to kitty 0.49.0 or later.
References
References3
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/commit/026d11f517da17bfd3c35ea502057babdfbe5828 (opens in a new tab)patch
- https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/tag/v0.49.0 (opens in a new tab)release-notes
- https://secur0.com/en/cna/cve-list/cve-2026-80432-kitty-dnd-data-before-drop (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisorytechnical-description
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-87226 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-80432)Record last updated .