CVE-2026-72847: broot renders each file and directory name in its interactive tree view exactly as read from the filesystem.

broot renders each file and directory name in its interactive tree view exactly as read from the filesystem.

broot renders each file and directory name in its interactive tree view exactly as read from the filesystem. Names are converted with a plain to_string_lossy() call in src/tree_build/builder.rs and in TreeLine::unprune in src/tree/tree_line.rs, and no control-character filtering exists anywhere in the code, even though the doc comment on the TreeLine name field states that some characters may have been stripped. Any local user who can create a file can therefore place an escape sequence in its name and have it written unmodified to the terminal of anyone who browses that directory, between broot's own styling codes. A reported proof of concept used an OSC 52 clipboard-write sequence and captured the raw bytes broot wrote to its pty, confirming the sequence reaches the terminal unstripped. What an injected OSC or CSI sequence can then do depends on the terminal emulator in use. Browsing a directory is broot's primary function and carries no expectation that the content is trusted.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by VulnCheck

What it means for a small business

If your business uses broot, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.15%, higher than 3% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 28, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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