GNU Emacs up to 29.3 lisp/ol.el org-link-expand-abbrev os command injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in GNU Emacs up to 29.3. The affected element is the function org-link-expand-abbrev of the file lisp/ol.el. The manipulation leads to os command injection. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2024-39331. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNU Emacs up to 29.3. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function org-link-expand-abbrev of the file lisp/ol.el. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a os command injection vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-78. The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In 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 shell-command-to-string. This affects Org Mode before 9.7.5.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.savannah.gnu.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2024-39331 since 06/23/2024. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1202 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 207747 (AlmaLinux 8 : emacs (ALSA-2024:6987)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 29.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.savannah.gnu.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (207747). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Word Processing Software

Vendor

• GNU

Name

• Emacs

Version

• 29.0
• 29.1
• 29.2
• 29.3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.gnu.org/

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Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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