NULL Pointer Dereference in vim/vim
NULL Pointer Dereference in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 20d161ace307e28690229b68584f2d84556f8960.
- Published
- Oct 5, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.4% · 35th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-476
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Report tools
Action score
22
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.4%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- proof of concept
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 5.5
- CNA · @huntrdev
- 6.2
- 0.7 point gap
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| vim | vim | cpe:2.3:a:vim:vim |
| fedoraproject | fedora | cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- fedoraproject fedora37
- fedoraproject fedora38
- fedoraproject fedora39
- vim vimbefore 9.0.1994
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (@huntrdev). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
vim vim/vim
- unspecified and later · before 20d161ace307e28690229b68584f2d84556f8960affected
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | vim | all versions | — |
| Debian:13 | vim | before 2:9.0.2018-1 | 2:9.0.2018-1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | vim | before 9.0.2103-150000.5.57.1 | 9.0.2103-150000.5.57.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 | vim | before 9.0.2103-150000.5.57.1 | 9.0.2103-150000.5.57.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | vim | before 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 | 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | vim | before 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 | 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | vim | before 9.0.2103-17.26.1 | 9.0.2103-17.26.1 |
Same product
vim: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2008-2712Vim 7.1.314, 6.4, and other versions allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via Vim scripts that do not properl42Plan
- CVE-2022-0318Heap-based Buffer Overflow in vim/vim40Plan
- CVE-2019-12735getchar.c in Vim before 8.1.1365 and Neovim before 0.3.6 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via the :source! command i40Plan
- CVE-2017-6350An integer overflow at an unserialize_uep memory allocation site would occur for vim before patch 8.0.0378, if it does not properly validate40Plan
- CVE-2017-6349An integer overflow at a u_read_undo memory allocation site would occur for vim before patch 8.0.0377, if it does not properly validate valu40Plan
- CVE-2017-5953vim before patch 8.0.0322 does not properly validate values for tree length when handling a spell file, which may result in an integer overf40Plan
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| debian:vim | 2:9.0.2018-1 · Debian:13 | Package registry (OSV) |
| opensuse:vim | 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | Package registry (OSV) |
| suse:vim | 9.0.2103-150500.20.6.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2022-47024258 days apartA null pointer dereference issue was discovered in function gui_x11_create_blank_mouse in gui_x11.c in vim 8.1.2269 thru 9.0.0339 allows att31Monitor
- CVE-2022-1620515 days apartNULL Pointer Dereference in function vim_regexec_string at regexp.c:2729 in vim/vim30Monitor
- CVE-2021-323655 days apartvim 8.2.2348 is affected by null pointer dereference, allows local attackers to cause a denial of service (DoS) via the ex_buffer_all method22Monitor
- CVE-2023-2609149 days apartNULL Pointer Dereference in vim/vim22Monitor
- CVE-2023-1355208 days apartNULL Pointer Dereference in vim/vim22Monitor
- CVE-2023-1264212 days apartNULL Pointer Dereference in vim/vim22Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- A user must open a link or visit a page.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-476 · NULL Pointer DereferenceCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
- github.com/vim/vim/commit/20d161ace307e28690229b68584f2d84556f8960
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VDDWD25AZIHBAA44HQT75OWLQ5UMDKU3/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VGTVLUV7UCXXCZAIQIUCLG6JXAVYT3HE/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/XPT7NMYJRLBPIALGSE24UWTY6F774GZW/
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.