Denial of service via Visual copy bounds error
Published Jan 26, 2022 · Updated Nov 3, 2025
Heap-based buffer overflow in Vim before 8.2 allows local users to crash the editor via crafted Visual-mode line-copy operations. The ex_copy function in src/ex_cmds.c copied lines without correcting the Visual position, leaving it beyond a line and enabling an illegal memory access during subsequent editor processing. A local user must open or edit a crafted buffer and perform the Visual copy sequence; published evidence establishes process crash denial of service, not code execution.
Summary
What happened
Heap-based buffer overflow in Vim before 8.2 allows local users to crash the editor via crafted Visual-mode line-copy operations. The ex_copy function in src/ex_cmds.c copied lines without correcting the Visual position, leaving it beyond a line and enabling an illegal memory access during subsequent editor processing. A local user must open or edit a crafted buffer and perform the Visual copy sequence; published evidence establishes process crash denial of service, not code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-0361
- Published
- Jan 26, 2022
- Updated
- Nov 3, 2025
- Vendor
- Vim
- Product
- Vim
- Classifications
- CWE-787, CWE-122, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 26, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=unspecified <8.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- huntr.dev CVE-2022-0361 proof of conceptproof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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