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Vim CVE-2026-44656

MEDIUM
OS Command Injection (CWE-78)
2026-05-08 GitHub_M
Command Injection Vim
4.6
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: GitHub_M
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Severity by source

Vendor (GitHub_M) PRIMARY
4.6 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
vuln.today AI
4.4 MEDIUM

AV:L because exploitation occurs in local file-open context; PR:N since attacker provides file content without needing system privileges; UI:R for two-step victim interaction; C:L/I:L for user-level command execution with no scope change.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
4.4 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Red Hat
5.3 MEDIUM
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).

CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
A
Scope
X

Lifecycle Timeline

4
Source Code Evidence Fetched
Jul 24, 2026 - 00:21 vuln.today
Analysis Generated
Jul 24, 2026 - 00:21 vuln.today
CVSS changed
May 08, 2026 - 23:22 NVD
4.6 (MEDIUM)
CVE Published
May 08, 2026 - 22:40 nvd
MEDIUM 4.6

DescriptionCVE.org

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0435, an OS command injection vulnerability exists in Vim's :find command-line completion. When the path option contains backtick-enclosed shell commands, those commands are executed during file name completion. Because the path option lacks the P_SECURE flag, it can be set from a modeline, allowing an attacker who controls the contents of a file to execute arbitrary shell commands when the user opens that file in Vim and triggers :find completion. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0435.

AnalysisAI

OS command injection in Vim's ':find' tab-completion mechanism allows an attacker who controls a file's contents to execute arbitrary shell commands under the victim's user account, by exploiting the missing P_SECURE flag on the 'path' option prior to version 9.2.0435. Because 'path' lacked this flag, a file modeline could inject backtick-wrapped shell commands that Vim silently executed during file-name completion. No active exploitation has been confirmed (SSVC: Exploitation none, EPSS 0.04%), and the vendor-released patch is available in Vim 9.2.0435.

Technical ContextAI

Vim's 'path' option specifies directories searched by commands like ':find' and 'gf'. When a path entry contains Unix backtick expressions (e.g., 'id'), Vim expands them by invoking the enclosed shell command - standard backtick substitution. Vim's internal 'P_SECURE' flag (defined in 'optiondefs.h') is the mechanism that prevents an option from being set via modelines (file-embedded configuration directives). CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command) applies because Vim passed unvalidated backtick content from the 'path' option directly to shell expansion in 'expand_path_option()' in 'src/findfile.c'. The fix, per the commit at https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/190cb3c2b9c769a3972bcfd991a7b5b6cb771ef0, adds 'P_SECURE' to the 'path' option definition and inserts an explicit guard in 'expand_path_option()' to skip any path entry containing a backtick character. Affected products are identified by CPE 'cpe:2.3:a:vim:vim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*', covering all Vim releases before 9.2.0435.

RemediationAI

Upgrade Vim to version 9.2.0435 or later, the vendor-released patch confirmed at https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.2.0435. Ubuntu users should apply the update described in USN-8304-1 at https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8304-1. As a pre-patch workaround, disable modeline processing by adding 'set nomodeline' to ~/.vimrc - this prevents any file from setting 'path' via embedded modelines, eliminating the injection vector entirely. The trade-off is that legitimate per-file configuration that developers rely on (file-type settings, indentation, etc.) will no longer be applied automatically. A more targeted alternative is enabling 'modelinestrict' ('set modelinestrict'), which restricts modelines to a reduced safe set of options; however, until the patch is applied, 'path' is not in that safe set, so 'nomodeline' remains the more reliable control.

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Same weakness CWE-78 – OS Command Injection

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Medium
Product Status
SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Fixed
SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Fixed

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CVE-2026-44656 vulnerability details – vuln.today
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