Local crash via substitute-expression buffer overflow
Published May 31, 2022 · Updated Nov 3, 2025
Heap-based buffer overflow in Vim before 8.2 allows local users to crash the editor or corrupt memory by opening a crafted file. The vim_regsub_both function writes replacement text into a destination buffer after a substitute expression can open a command-line window while text or the buffer is locked, allowing an out-of-bounds heap write. Exploitation requires a user to open the specially crafted file; reported impact is process crash with possible memory modification, while code execution is not established.
Summary
What happened
Heap-based buffer overflow in Vim before 8.2 allows local users to crash the editor or corrupt memory by opening a crafted file. The vim_regsub_both function writes replacement text into a destination buffer after a substitute expression can open a command-line window while text or the buffer is locked, allowing an out-of-bounds heap write. Exploitation requires a user to open the specially crafted file; reported impact is process crash with possible memory modification, while code execution is not established.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-1942
- Published
- May 31, 2022
- Updated
- Nov 3, 2025
- Vendor
- Vim
- Product
- Vim
- Classifications
- CWE-787, CWE-122, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 31, 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
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
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
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo