CVE-2026-28419

Received Received - Intake

Heap-Based Buffer Underflow in Vim Tags File Parsing

Publication date: 2026-02-27

Last updated on: 2026-03-04

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0075, a heap-based buffer underflow exists in Vim's Emacs-style tags file parsing logic. When processing a malformed tags file where a delimiter appears at the start of a line, Vim attempts to read memory immediately preceding the allocated buffer. Version 9.2.0075 fixes the issue.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-02-27

Last Modified

2026-03-04

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-02-28

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-28419

EUVD

EUVD-2026-9087

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
vim	vim	to 9.2.0075 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-124	The product writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer.
CWE-125	The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in the Vim text editor prior to version 9.2.0075. It is a heap-based buffer underflow that occurs in Vim's Emacs-style tags file parsing logic. Specifically, when Vim processes a malformed tags file where a delimiter appears at the start of a line, it attempts to read memory immediately before the allocated buffer, which can lead to unexpected behavior or crashes.

Impact Analysis

The vulnerability can lead to memory corruption due to reading memory before the allocated buffer. This can cause Vim to crash or behave unpredictably. Additionally, it may allow an attacker to leak sensitive information or potentially execute arbitrary code, depending on the context in which Vim is used and the privileges of the user running it.

Compliance Impact

I don't know

Detection Guidance

I don't know

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should update Vim to version 9.2.0075 or later, as this version contains the fix for the heap-based buffer underflow issue in the Emacs-style tags file parsing logic.

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