7.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-96442
Emacs: emacs: arbitrary code execution, incomplete fix for cve-2024-53920
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.

INFO

Published Date :

Sept. 23, 2026, 11:17 a.m.

Last Modified :

Sept. 23, 2026, 11:17 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-96442 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Redhat enterprise_linux
2 Redhat enterprise_linux
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 HIGH 53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749
CVSS 3.1 HIGH MITRE-CVE
CVSS 3.1 HIGH [email protected]
Solution
Update Emacs to version 31.2 or later to fix code execution flaws.
  • Update Emacs to version 31.2 or later.
  • Avoid opening untrusted files in Emacs.
  • Disable Flymake mode for untrusted files.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-96442 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-96442 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-96442 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-96442 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Sep. 23, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added 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.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-94
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/96xxx/CVE-2026-96442.json">CVE-2026-96442</a>
    Added Reference https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-96442
    Added Reference https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2537347
    Added Reference https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/135e6f63f08fee3d374fa1a5187bce941a2d3e3c
    Added Reference https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/abc802ee2eb0b1663349ddf22a461f8e54a383fb
    Added Reference https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/14/1
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.