CVE-2017-14482 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Emacs

GNU Emacs before 25.3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via email with crafted "Content-Type: text/enriched" data containing an x-display XML element that specifies execution of shell commands, related to an unsafe text/enriched extension in lisp/textmodes/enriched.el, and unsafe Gnus support for enriched and richtext inline MIME objects in lisp/gnus/mm-view.el. In particular, an Emacs user can be instantly compromised by reading a crafted email message (or Usenet news article).

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-05-18	4.58%	3.60%	-0.98%
2	2026-03-04	4.70%	4.58%	-0.12%
3	2026-02-19	—	4.70%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-05-18

4.58%

3.60%

-0.98%

2026-03-04

4.70%

4.58%

-0.12%

2026-02-19

—

4.70%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.0

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-14482

vendor	priority	summary	link
`gentoo`	normal	CVE-2017-14482: 1 GLSA(s) (201801-07), 1 atom(s) (app-editors/emacs); latest impact normal.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2017-14482
`redhat`	high	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-14482
`suse`	critical	CVE-2017-14482 severity critical: SUSE including 23 source package names (emacs, emacs-22.3-42.3.1, …), 154 product×package rows across 34 product lines (SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, SUSE Enterprise Storage 6, … (34 product lines)): Fixed 99, Known Not Affected 55.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-14482/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2017-14482 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (emacs23, emacs24, emacs25), 24 status rows across 8 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): DNE 15, released 4, needs-triage 2, not-affected 2, ignored 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-14482

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-14482

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
gnu	emacs	<= 25.2	cpe:2.3:a:gnu:emacs::::::::
debian	debian_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2017-14482

URL	Tags
http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3975
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/09/11/1	Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:2771
https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=28350	Issue Tracking Mailing List Patch Vendor Advisory
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?h=emacs-25&id=9ad0fcc54442a9a01d41be19880250783426db70	Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201801-07
https://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3970	Third Party Advisory
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/index.html#Releases	Release Notes Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2017-14482

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-14482

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-14482

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-14482

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-14482

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-14482

References for CVE-2017-14482