CVE-2026-41526

In KDE KCoreAddons before 6.25, KShell::quoteArgs is intended to safely quote arguments so that they can be passed to a shell command. This parsing does not adequately handle metacharacters, leading to an escape from the shell. All applications relying on this method in a security-critical path to handle user input are affected and could be exploited. In particular, because sendInput() sends a string to a terminal, a control character such as \x01 can be used during injection.

Published: 2026-04-28 Last update: 2026-05-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-41526 is rated Low Risk (26.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). 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-2026-41526

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 2026-04-28 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-41526

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
1.0 5.5 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-41526

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-41526

GHSA-9hm5-8q4h-922j · Severity: medium — In KDE KCoreAddons before 6.25, KShell::quoteArgs is intended to safely quote arguments so that...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-41526

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-41526 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (kcoreaddons, kf6-kcoreaddons), 8 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 8. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-41526
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-41526/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-41526 medium priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (kcoreaddons, kf6-kcoreaddons), 13 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 11, DNE 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-41526

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-41526

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kde kcoreaddons < 6.25.0 cpe:2.3:a:kde:kcoreaddons:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-41526

cvelogic Threat Intelligence