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Ubuntu 12.04 LTS: 1586-1 Critical: Emacs Code Execution Risks

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Calendar Grey September 27, 2012
Scroller Ubuntu
Vim might be vulnerable, allowing the execution of code under your account when using specially designed files in Debian 8 and 9.
Emacs could be made to run programs as your login if it opened a specially crafted file.

Summary

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

crafted file.

Software Description:

- emacs23: The GNU Emacs editor (with GTK+ user interface)

Details:

Hiroshi Oota discovered that Emacs incorrectly handled search paths. If a

user were tricked into opening a file with Emacs, a local attacker could

execute arbitrary Lisp code with the privileges of the user invoking the

program. (CVE-2012-0035)

Paul Ling discovered that Emacs incorrectly handled certain eval forms in

local-variable sections. If a user were tricked into opening a specially

crafted file with Emacs, a remote attacker could execute arbitrary Lisp

code with the privileges of the user invoking the program. (CVE-2012-3479)

Update Instructions

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

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS:
  emacs23                         23.3+1-1ubuntu9.1
  emacs23-common                  23.3+1-1ubuntu9.1

Ubuntu 11.10:
  emacs23                         23.3+1-1ubuntu4.1
  emacs23-common                  23.3+1-1ubuntu4.1

After a standard system update you need to restart Emacs to make all the
necessary changes.

References

https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-1586-1

CVE-2012-0035, CVE-2012-3479

Severity
critical
Lowest
Low
Medium
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Critical

September 27, 2012

Package Information

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