Public vulnerability disclosure

CVE-2026-96442

Emacs: emacs: arbitrary code execution in flymake mode

publishedCWE-94

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.

Investigate in Cyber JSON Markdown

Technical severity7.8 highCVSS 3.1 · CNA: redhat

Published2026-09-23Source updated 2026-11-02

Collected2026-11-022 attributed sources

Fixes and workarounds

Workaround

To mitigate this issue, users should avoid opening or editing untrusted text files with Emacs. Exercise caution when handling files from unknown or suspicious sources, as interacting with them can lead to arbitrary code execution.

Source: CNA: redhat

Affected products and versions

Affected products, source version ranges and reporting authorities
Product	Versions	Authority
GNU Emacs GNU Emacs `emacs` https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/	≥ 0; < 31.2 (affected, semver) Other versions: unaffected	CNA: redhat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Red Hat `emacs` https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/	≥ 1:29.4-14.el10_2.3; < * (unaffected, rpm) Other versions: affected	CNA: redhat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat `emacs` https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/	≥ 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4; < * (unaffected, rpm) Other versions: affected	CNA: redhat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Red Hat `emacs` https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/	≥ 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3; < * (unaffected, rpm) Other versions: affected	CNA: redhat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Red Hat `emacs` https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/	Range not reported Other versions: unknown	CNA: redhat
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Red Hat `emacs` https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/	Range not reported Other versions: affected	CNA: redhat

Version ranges are source assertions. Check the vendor advisory and your installed configuration before determining exposure.

CVSS assessments

CVSS scores, vectors and reporting authorities
Version / score	Vector	Authority
3.1 / 7.8 high	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`	CNA: redhat

Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

References

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:84591CNA: redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:85245CNA: redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:90800CNA: redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-96442CNA: redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2537347CNA: redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/135e6f63f08fee3d374fa1a5187bce941a2d3e3cCNA: redhat
https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/commit/abc802ee2eb0b1663349ddf22a461f8e54a383fbCNA: redhat
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/14/1CNA: redhat