CVE-2026-96442 Emacs: emacs: arbitrary code execution in flymake mode
High 7.8
Published
Updated
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-96442 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2026-96442 is a high-severity vulnerability in GNU Emacs, published on 23 Sep 2026.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96442 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Affected product: GNU Emacs. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.
Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96442/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-96442/index.md)
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-96442?
CVE-2026-96442 is a high-severity vulnerability in GNU Emacs, published on 23 Sep 2026.
Official 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.
Weakness: CWE-94
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96442?
Linux distribution packages (39)
emacs AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs-common AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs-filesystem AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs-lucid AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs-nox AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs-terminal AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-common AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-filesystem AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-lucid AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-nox AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-common Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-common-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-debugsource Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-filesystem Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-lucid Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-lucid-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-nox Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs-nox-debuginfo Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 1:26.1-15.el8_10.4 |
emacs Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 1:27.2-18.el9_8.3 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP7 | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | All versions | 30.2-160000.4.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 | All versions | 27.2-150400.3.34.1 |
emacs SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 | All versions | 30.2-160000.4.1 |
emacs openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | All versions | 30.2-160000.4.1 |
emacs openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 31.1-4.1 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-96442?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Is CVE-2026-96442 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96442 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as ALSA-2026:85245, ALSA-2026:90800, AZL-103532, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-96442, GHSA-hmfx-447r-rwh3, OESA-2026-4406 and 8 more.