Editor crash via freed completion-option memory
Published Sep 25, 2022 · Updated May 21, 2025
Use-after-free in Vim before 9.0.0579 allows local users to crash the editor by inducing a user to open a crafted file. During insert-mode completion, process_next_cpt_value() keeps a pointer into the buffer's 'complete' option after tagfunc wipes that buffer, then dereferences the freed memory. Exploitation requires user interaction with attacker-controlled content; the documented consequence is a Vim process crash, while code execution is not established.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Vim before 9.0.0579 allows local users to crash the editor by inducing a user to open a crafted file. During insert-mode completion, process_next_cpt_value() keeps a pointer into the buffer's 'complete' option after tagfunc wipes that buffer, then dereferences the freed memory. Exploitation requires user interaction with attacker-controlled content; the documented consequence is a Vim process crash, while code execution is not established.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-3297
- Published
- Sep 25, 2022
- Updated
- May 21, 2025
- Vendor
- Vim
- Product
- Vim
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1203
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 21, 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 <9.0.0579
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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