OS Command InjectionWeakness · CWE-78

CVE-2025-1244

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-12

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

95/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description

NVD · unedited

A command injection flaw was found in the text editor Emacs. It could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands on a vulnerable system. Exploitation is possible by tricking users into visiting a specially crafted website or an HTTP URL with a redirect.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A command injection vulnerability exists in Emacs where specially crafted URLs or websites can cause the editor to execute arbitrary shell commands. The attack relies on tricking users into visiting malicious HTTP URLs, potentially with redirects, exploiting how Emacs processes and handles URL schemes that invoke shell commands.

MitigationUsers should avoid opening untrusted URLs within Emacs and disable or restrict URL handlers that invoke external commands until an official patch is released. Organizations should consider network-level controls to block known malicious URL patterns.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Privileges: None
User interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

Check installed Emacs version

Run 'emacs --version' or M-x emacs-version within Emacs

Affected if The installed version falls within the affected version range for CVE-2025-1244 (compare your version to the patched versions)
Verify URL handling is enabled

Check if the 'url' package or external browser handlers (emacs-w3m, etc.) are loaded; examine init.el for '(require 'url)' or related URL-handling modules

Affected if URL handling modules are loaded and active in the Emacs configuration
Inspect URL-handling security settings

Check for variables like 'url-configuration-directory', 'browse-url-browser-function', or custom URL handlers in the configuration; examine if shell commands can be triggered from URL processing

Affected if Custom or external URL handlers are configured that may pass URLs to shell execution functions
Review recent URL interaction patterns

Check if users have visited untrusted websites or clicked HTTP links within Emacs; examine Emacs session logs or recent buffers for URL-related activity

Affected if Emacs has been used to visit or follow HTTP URLs, especially from untrusted sources

A user is affected if running an unpatched Emacs version with active URL handling capabilities where URLs can be processed and potentially passed to shell execution functions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

From vendor data

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Users should avoid opening untrusted URLs within Emacs and disable or restrict URL handlers that invoke external commands until an official patch is released. Organizations should consider network-level controls to block known malicious URL patterns.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation4.0 h
Implementation8.0 h
Testing6.0 h
Review / QA4.0 h

22.0 hours of engineering $3,860

Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-1244 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2025-1244?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here

Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 8.8 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 2.6%

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Have this fixed 22 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $3,860

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2025-1244 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

Check your environment

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References