Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-6861

Gnu Emacs 28.1 – 30.2

Published
22 April 2026
Modified
06 May 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 6.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0011 1th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-6861 is a medium-severity Off-by-one Error (CWE-193) vulnerability in Gnu Emacs. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 1th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A flaw was found in GNU Emacs. This vulnerability, a memory corruption issue, occurs when Emacs processes specially crafted SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) data. A local user could exploit this by convincing a victim to open…

more

a malicious SVG file, which may lead to a denial of service (DoS) or potentially information disclosure.

CWE(s)
CWE-193

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-27986Same product: Gnu Emacs
CVE-2024-39331Same product: Gnu Emacs
CVE-2024-53920Same product: Gnu Emacs
CVE-2023-27985Same product: Gnu Emacs
CVE-2024-30202Same product: Gnu Emacs
CVE-2025-62689Same vendor: Gnu
CVE-2026-32746Same vendor: Gnu
CVE-2025-61154Same vendor: Gnu
CVE-2026-5928Same vendor: Gnu
CVE-2024-56737Same vendor: Gnu

Affected Assets

gnu
emacs
28.1 — 30.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover off-by-one errors in loops, bounds, and calculations before deployment.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring documented development standards and tools can embed bounds-checking and arithmetic-correctness rules that stop off-by-one mistakes at introduction.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent off-by-one errors via reviews, static analysis, and testing.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect off-by-one errors before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle includes requirements and reviews that can catch off-by-one errors.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and input validation to prevent off-by-one errors.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding practices that reduce off-by-one mistakes.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding directly addresses off-by-one errors through coding standards and peer review.

References