CVE-2026-48120: Kakoune has a Critical RCE via Autorestore Backup Filename Injection

Severity: high (CVSS 8.6 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-07 · updated 2026-10-23
Weakness: CWE-74

Description

Kakoune is a code editor. Prior to version 2026.05.21, the bundled, enabled by default, `autorestore.kak` script can be exploited by malicious backup files leading to arbitrary kakoune and shell commands being executed by simply opening a file. Kakoune 2026.05.21 fixes the issue. As a workaround, add `autorestore-disable` to the user kakrc will disable the autorestore feature.

Affected products

mawww kakoune: before 2026.05.21

References

https://github.com/mawww/kakoune/commit/25c7b13b244fd1ddacc63ecfe1784b5ebc2ba825
https://github.com/mawww/kakoune/security/advisories/GHSA-h99r-h8cp-vwcq

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