1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-3427-1

USN-3427-1: Emacs vulnerability

Publication date

21 September 2017

Overview

Emacs could be made to run programs as your login if it opened a specially crafted file.

Releases

Packages

Details

Charles A. Roelli discovered that Emacs incorrectly handled certain
files. If a user were tricked into opening a specially crafted file (e.g., email
messages in gnus), an attacker could possibly use this to execute arbitrary code.

Charles A. Roelli discovered that Emacs incorrectly handled certain
files. If a user were tricked into opening a specially crafted file (e.g., email
messages in gnus), an attacker could possibly use this to execute arbitrary code.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
16.04 xenial emacs24 –  24.5+1-6ubuntu1.1
14.04 trusty emacs24 –  24.3+1-2ubuntu1.1

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References

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