CVE-2026-80430

What it is

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access in the drag source staging 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 create files and directories at paths outside the staging directory, because subdir_data_for_drag() in kitty/dnd.c resolves a descendant of the staged item tree by constructing a path string and opening it with safe_open(path, O_DIRECTORY | O_RDONLY, 0) rather than by walking the tree one component at a time, so a client that declares two entries with the same name, the first a symlink whose target is an arbitrary absolute path and the second a directory, causes mkdirat() to fail with EEXIST, which the code ignores, and causes the subsequent path resolution to follow the symlink and return a directory descriptor outside the staging directory, which is then passed as the dirfd argument to add_payload() and used for every further create operation on that item and its descendants. Entry names are sanitised against path separators and dot components, but symlink targets are not validated. Files are created with O_CREAT | O_WRONLY | O_EXCL at mode 0644, so existing files cannot be overwritten, and directories are created with mkdirat() at mode 0755, so the attacker can create intermediate directories that did not previously exist. This results in the creation of files and directories at any path writable by the user running kitty, provided the symlink target is an existing directory.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine without logging in, but needs a user to act. Limited direct impact.

Exploit odds

0.2% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2026-09-25 14:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-09-29 21:32 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.2% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 4.6 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2026-09-25 14:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-09-29 21:32 UTC

Exploit probability

0.2% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-59

Record status

Awaiting Analysis

Attack profile CVSS 4.0 · 4.6

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Attack requirements

None

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

Active

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

None

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2026-80430.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2026-80430. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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