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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2026-96269: GNU Emacs 28.1 through 31.1 allows arbitrary code execution upon opening a file, because an untrusted value of read-symbol-shorthands affect

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.14% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: azl3 emacs 29.4-6 on Azure Linux 3.0 29.4-7.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to azl3 emacs 29.4-6 on Azure Linux 3.0 29.4-7 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

GNU Emacs 28.1 through 31.1 allows arbitrary code execution upon opening a file, because an untrusted value of read-symbol-shorthands affects the intern and unintern functions. This affects the default configuration; no particular user settings are required to trigger it.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Sep 22, 2026
Updated
Sep 24, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 3th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

30

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · mitre
7.5
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-96269

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (mitre). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • GNU Emacs

    • 28.1 and later · up to and including 31.1affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
AlmaLinux:10emacsbefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4
AlmaLinux:10emacs-commonbefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4
AlmaLinux:10emacs-filesystembefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4
AlmaLinux:10emacs-lucidbefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4
AlmaLinux:10emacs-nwbefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4
Debian:12emacsfrom 0—
Debian:13emacsbefore 1:30.1+1-6+deb13u11:30.1+1-6+deb13u1
Debian:14emacsbefore 1:30.2+1-111:30.2+1-11
Rocky Linux:10emacsbefore 1:29.4-14.el10_2.41:29.4-14.el10_2.4

Same product

gnu: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2007-6109Stack-based buffer overflow in emacs allows user-assisted attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) and possibly have unspe
    41Plan
  • CVE-2024-39331In Emacs before 29.4, org-link-expand-abbrev in lisp/ol.el expands a %(...) link abbrev even when it specifies an unsafe function, such as s
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2022-48337GNU Emacs through 28.2 allows attackers to execute commands via shell metacharacters in the name of a source-code file, because lib-src/etag
    39Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-71394Aug 10, 2026 · Heap Use of Uninitialized Memory in GNU Emacs for Android
    21Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-77219Aug 21, 2026 · GNU Emacs < 31.0.91 Heap Over-Read via PBM/PPM/PGM Image Loader
    27Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-108976Oct 11, 2026 · GNU Emacs before 31.2 (and TRAMP through 2.8.2) allows OS command injection via a filename because tramp-user-regexp has an incomplete list
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
azl3 emacs 29.4-6 on Azure Linux 3.029.4-7 · Release NotesMicrosoft (MSRC)
almalinux:emacs1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · AlmaLinux:10Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:emacs-common1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · AlmaLinux:10Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:emacs-filesystem1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · AlmaLinux:10Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:emacs-lucid1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · AlmaLinux:10Package registry (OSV)
almalinux:emacs-nw1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · AlmaLinux:10Package registry (OSV)
debian:emacs1:30.1+1-6+deb13u1 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
rocky linux:emacs1:29.4-14.el10_2.4 · Rocky Linux:10Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-829 · Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records