CVE-2026-55892
What it is
Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to 9.2.0662, the dump_prefixes() function in src/spell.c walks a spell-file prefix trie iteratively with a depth counter while dumping the prefixes that apply to a word. The counter is bounded only by the trie structure itself; it is never checked against the size of the fixed MAXWLEN-element stack arrays it indexes (prefix[], arridx[], curi[]). A crafted .spl file, loaded when the user dumps the word list, can drive the descent arbitrarily deep, so the function writes past the end of those arrays. This is a stack out-of-bounds write that corrupts the call frame and crashes the editor. This vulnerability is fixed in 9.2.0662.
At a glance
- Exploitability
- Can be exploited locally on the machine without logging in, but needs a user to act. High risk of service disruption.
- Exploit odds
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Fix
- A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.
Timeline
- PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
- Last updatedMost recent change to the record
Details
- Published
- Last modified
- Exploit probability
- 0.1% · EPSS, next 30 days
- Weakness
- CWE-787 · Out-of-bounds write
- Record status
- Analyzed
Affected
- Vim < 9.2.0662
Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Fix and advisories
- https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/8325b193bba5f01e7a7d8241f
- https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.2.0662
- https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-qm9w-fmpj-879h