Description
GNU Emacs for Android improperly validates the table header input in sfnt_read_table_directory() in src/sfnt.c. Due to an incorrect comparison variable in the read-length check, a crafted font file that claims to contain more table directory entries than actually present causes the parser to return a struct with uninitialized heap memory in the table directory entries. An attacker can deliver a malicious font file via email, EWW (Emacs Web Wowser), or documents with custom faces, causing Emacs to load it. This leads to the use of uninitialized heap data in subsequent table lookups, potentially resulting in information disclosure, crashes, or arbitrary memory access on 32-bit targets.
This issue is fixed after commit 7621ee1d01229d50e5c0cddea6bf0b01095a62cf
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNU | Emacs | ≤ 30.2 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | emacs +2 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
Show 8 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | xemacs21 +1 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 26.04 LTS | emacs | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS | emacs | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS | emacs | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | emacs | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | emacs25 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | emacs24 | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-2721 GNU Emacs: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Aug 10, 2026
References
- https://cert.pl/en/posts/2026/08/CVE-2026-71391 third-party-advisory
- https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/emacs/emacs.html product