CVE-2026-50642: Improper Encoding

Description

diff‑so‑fancy does not properly sanitize non‑SGR terminal control sequences before outputting diff data. The application only strips ANSI SGR sequences while allowing other control characters, including carriage return (\r) and escape sequences (e.g., OSC, CSI), to pass through unsanitized. An attacker can embed malicious control sequences in filenames, diff metadata, or file content that are rendered directly in the terminal during diff viewing. This can lead to output manipulation, including filename spoofing, terminal screen clearing, and clipboard injection via supported escape sequences. Successful exploitation may mislead users during code review, alter terminal state, or result in unintended command execution through clipboard hijacking. This issue has been fixed in the commit 9c81294

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EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0030

Probability of exploitation

0.22%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-116 CWE-116

References

Other References

https://cert.pl/posts/2026/07/CVE-2026-41874/ https://github.com/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-50642? +

diff‑so‑fancy does not properly sanitize non‑SGR terminal control sequences before outputting diff data. The application only strips ANSI SGR sequences while allowing other control characters, including carriage return (\r) and escape sequences (e.g., OSC, CSI), to pass through unsanitized. An attacker can embed malicious control sequences in filenames, diff metadata, or file content that are rendered directly in the terminal during diff viewing. This can lead to output manipulation, including filename spoofing, terminal screen clearing, and clipboard injection via supported escape sequences. Successful exploitation may mislead users during code review, alter terminal state, or result in unintended command execution through clipboard hijacking. This issue has been fixed in the commit 9c81294

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-50642? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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