CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2023-48706 — Vim is a UNIX editor that, prior to version 9.0.2121, has a heap-use-after-free vulnerability
Vim is a UNIX editor that, prior to version 9.0.2121, has a heap-use-after-free vulnerability. When executing a `:s` command for the very first time and using a sub-replace-special atom inside the substitution part, it is possible that the recursive `:s` call causes free-ing of memory which may later then be accessed by the initial `:s` command. The user must intentionally execute the payload and the whole process is a bit tricky to do since it seems to work only reliably for the very first :s command. It may also cause a crash of Vim. Version 9.0.2121 contains a fix for this issue.
- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.7 (3.1)
- Published
- 2023-11-22
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-416
Affected products
- vim / vim
Matched remediation archetype
Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
- Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
- Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.
Remediate safely
- Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
- Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
- Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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