CVE-2026-28421
Heap Buffer Overflow in Vim Swap File Recovery Causes Crash
Publication date: 2026-02-27
Last updated on: 2026-03-04
Assigner: GitHub, Inc.
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| vim | vim | to 9.2.0077 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-122 | A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). |
| CWE-20 | The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability exists in Vim, an open source command line text editor, in versions prior to 9.2.0077. It involves a heap-buffer-overflow and a segmentation fault (SEGV) in Vim's swap file recovery logic. These issues are caused by unvalidated fields that are read from specially crafted pointer blocks within a swap file. The problem is fixed in version 9.2.0077.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
Exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to a heap-buffer-overflow and segmentation fault, which may cause Vim to crash or behave unpredictably. This could potentially be used by an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service when recovering swap files.
How does this vulnerability affect compliance with common standards and regulations (like GDPR, HIPAA)?:
I don't know
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
I don't know
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
To mitigate this vulnerability, upgrade Vim to version 9.2.0077 or later, as this version contains the fix for the heap-buffer-overflow and segmentation fault issues in the swap file recovery logic.