Bug 2542465 - CVE-2026-95835 kitty: missing ownership check on the shared memory object named by the kitty askpass escape code [epel-all]
Summary: CVE-2026-95835 kitty: missing ownership check on the shared memory object nam...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: Fedora EPEL
Classification: Fedora
Component: kitty
Version: epel10
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Jonathan Wright
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard: {"flaws": ["41d39ae8-f1e2-4f3a-bf32-3...
Depends On:
Blocks: CVE-2026-95835
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-09-28 12:59 UTC by Guilherme de Almeida Suckevicz
Modified: 2026-09-28 12:59 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed:
Type: ---
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Guilherme de Almeida Suckevicz 2026-09-28 12:59:01 UTC
Disclaimer: Community trackers are created by Red Hat Product Security team on a best effort basis. Package maintainers are required to ascertain if the flaw indeed affects their package, before starting the update process.

Missing Authorization in the askpass escape code handler in kitty from 0.25.0 before 0.49.0 allows a local user other than the one running the terminal to obtain the text typed into a prompt that kitty itself displays, because handle_remote_askpass() in kitty/window.py opens the POSIX shared memory object named in the escape code, parses a prompt definition out of it, and writes the user's answer back into an object of that same name, without at any point checking that the object is owned by the user running kitty or that its permissions exclude other users. The equivalent consumer of the same SharedMemory class in the ssh kitten performs exactly that check; the askpass path did not. The handler is reached through a device control string processed from the byte stream of the window, so the attacker must also cause bytes of their choosing to be displayed by the victim's terminal. Where the POSIX shared memory namespace is shared between the two users, a second local user can create an object with permissions that allow the victim to read and write it, cause the victim's kitty to render a prompt of the attacker's choosing, including a masked password prompt, and read the typed secret back out of the object afterwards. The prompt text is additionally passed to the display without control character sanitisation, so it can overwrite the warning line kitty prints above it. The answer is written by reopening an object of that name when the user answers, rather than through the handle already held. This results in disclosure of a secret typed by the victim to a second local user, and does not require any privilege on the victim's account.


Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.