CVE-2026-33633 | Kitty has a Heap Buffer Overflow in its Graphics Protocol Handler

Kitty is a cross-platform GPU based terminal. Versions 0.46.2 and below contain a heap buffer overflow in load_image_data() that allows any process which can write to the terminal's stdin to crash kitty immediately. The vulnerability is triggered by a single APC graphics protocol command with a PNG format declaration (f=100) whose payload exceeds twice the initial buffer capacity. The overflow is attacker-controlled in both length and content, causing DoS and potentially escalation to RCE itself. This issue has been fixed in version 0.47.0.

Published: 2026-05-19 Last update: 2026-05-19 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-33633 is rated Low Risk (39.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.34%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-33633

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.34% +0.30%
2 2026-05-20 0.04%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-33633

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.6 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-33633

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-33633

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-33633 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (kitty), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-33633
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-33633 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (kitty), 6 status rows across 6 suites (focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 6. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-33633

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-33633

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-33633

cvelogic Threat Intelligence