Vulnerability identifier: #VU72574

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-48338

CWE-ID: CWE-78

Exploitation vector: Local

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
Emacs
Client/Desktop applications / Office applications

Vendor: GNU

Description

The vulnerability allows a malicious gem to execute arbitrary shell commands on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to improper input validation in the ruby-find-library-file() function. A malicious Ruby source file can execute arbitrary OS commands on the target system.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Emacs: 18.59 - 28.2

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External links
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?id=9a3b08061feea14d6f37685ca1ab8801758bfd1c

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.