CVE-2026-96442: GNU Emacs · Code Injection
Affects GNU EmacsSource CVE Database V5
Mentioned vulnerabilities
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High : upgrade to 31.2 soon.
Data as of 6 Nov 2026, 11:41 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (redhat) | CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 |
|---|
- EPSS
- 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 10% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 31.2
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Sep 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 6 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade GNU Emacs and emacs-mirror/emacs to 31.2.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| GNU Emacsemacs | Affected
| Fixed in
|
GitHubemacs-mirror/emacspkg:github/emacs-mirror/emacsOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
A fix is available in GNU Emacs version 31.2. Users should upgrade to version 31.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Until patched, users should avoid opening or editing untrusted text files with Emacs and exercise caution when handling files from unknown or suspicious sources to prevent arbitrary code execution.
Description
A code execution flaw was found in Emacs, affecting versions prior to 31.2. The Flymake mode using language backends other than Lisp would execute arbitrary code from the edited file while performing syntax checking. Viewing or editing untrusted files using Emacs could lead to arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running Emacs.
References
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-96442 (opens in a new tab)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2537347 (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/135e6f63f08fee3d374fa1a5187bce941a2d3e3c (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/abc802ee2eb0b1663349ddf22a461f8e54a383fb (opens in a new tab)
- openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/14/1 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:84591 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:85245 (opens in a new tab)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:90800 (opens in a new tab)