CVE-2026-41253

MEDIUMNVD 6.96.9—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 6.9 from GitHub Security Advisory published 2026-04-18. NVD baseline CVSS 6.9; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Elevated
6.9EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 6.9Exploit: Elevated riskExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

In iTerm2 through 3.6.9, displaying a .txt file can cause code execution via DCS 2000p and OSC 135 data, if the working directory contains a malicious file whose name is valid output from the conductor encoding path, such as a pathname with an initial ace/c+ substring, aka "hypothetical in-band signaling abuse." This occurs because iTerm2 accepts the SSH conductor protocol from terminal output that does not originate from a legitimate conductor session.

CVSS v3
6.9
EG Score
6.9(medium)
EG Risk
47(Track*)
EG Risk 47/100SSVC: Track*

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity69% × 45%
Exploitation40% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Watch closely — could escalate to Attend.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
10%
KEV
Not listed

Published

April 18, 2026

Last Modified

May 18, 2026

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated May 18, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

"cat readme.txt" is not safe if you use iTerm2 | Hacker News

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47809190
generic

Downloads - iTerm2 - macOS Terminal Replacement

https://iterm2.com/downloads.html
generic

Harden SSH integration against hypothetical in-band signaling abuse · gnachman/iTerm2@a9e7459 · GitHub

https://github.com/gnachman/iTerm2/commit/a9e745993c2e2cbb30b884a16617cd5495899f86
generic

MAD Bugs: Even "cat readme.txt" is not safe - Calif

https://blog.calif.io/p/mad-bugs-even-cat-readmetxt-is-not

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 6× in last 7d / 26× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 167 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-13 16:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-12 15:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-11 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-11 09:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-10 09:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-08 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-07 16:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-04 05:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-02 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-02 03:40 UTCOSV refresh
  12. 2026-09-01 13:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-09-01 04:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-08-30 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-30 01:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-08-28 21:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-27 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-26 14:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-08-25 13:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-08-23 00:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-21 23:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-08-20 22:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-08-19 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-18 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-16 06:27 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-08-16 06:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-08-16 02:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-15 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-14 04:35 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-08-14 04:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-08-13 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-13 00:58 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-08-13 00:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-08-12 13:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-08-12 01:45 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-08-12 01:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-08-11 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-11 02:32 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-08-11 02:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-08-11 00:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-10 03:04 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-08-10 03:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-08-09 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-09 03:51 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-08-09 03:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-08-08 16:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-07 13:18 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-08-07 13:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-08-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-08-05 23:17 UTCEG score recompute
  28. 2026-08-05 23:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-08-05 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-08-04 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-08-04 10:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-08-03 21:28 UTCEG score recompute
  33. 2026-08-03 21:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-08-03 10:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-08-02 12:59 UTCEG score recompute
  36. 2026-08-02 12:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-08-02 02:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-08-01 04:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-07-30 16:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-07-30 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-07-28 15:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-07-27 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-07-26 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-07-26 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-07-24 14:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-07-23 14:18 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-07-23 03:11 UTCEG score recompute
  48. 2026-07-22 14:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  49. 2026-07-21 15:24 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-07-20 17:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  51. 2026-07-20 07:04 UTCOSV refresh
  52. 2026-07-19 14:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  53. 2026-07-19 02:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-07-18 10:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-07-16 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  56. 2026-07-15 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  57. 2026-07-15 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  58. 2026-07-15 02:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  59. 2026-07-13 22:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-07-13 06:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-07-13 06:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-07-12 05:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-07-11 08:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  64. 2026-07-09 19:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-07-08 15:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  66. 2026-07-07 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  67. 2026-07-06 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  68. 2026-07-06 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  69. 2026-07-06 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  70. 2026-07-06 02:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  71. 2026-07-05 02:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  72. 2026-07-04 06:31 UTCEPSS rescore
  73. 2026-07-01 15:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  74. 2026-06-30 23:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  75. 2026-06-29 14:06 UTCEPSS rescore

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Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-41253?
CVE-2026-41253 is a medium vulnerability published on April 18, 2026. In iTerm2 through 3.6.9, displaying a .txt file can cause code execution via DCS 2000p and OSC 135 data, if the working directory contains a malicious file whose name is valid output from the conductor encoding path, such as a pathname with an initial ace/c+ substring, aka "hypothetical in-band…
When was CVE-2026-41253 disclosed?
CVE-2026-41253 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on April 18, 2026, with the most recent update on May 18, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-41253 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-41253 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 90.2% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-41253?
CVE-2026-41253 has a CVSS v3 base score of 6.9 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-41253?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-41253, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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