CVE-2026-28419Public exploit

Editor crash via backward delimiter scan

Published Feb 27, 2026 · Updated Feb 27, 2026

Buffer underflow in Vim before 9.2.0075 allows attackers to crash the editor through a crafted Emacs-style tags file. The emacs_tags_parse_line() function subtracts one from a 0x7f delimiter pointer at the buffer start and dereferences the preceding heap byte before checking bounds. Exploitation requires a user to perform a tag lookup against the malicious file and causes a one-byte out-of-bounds read that can terminate Vim.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Buffer underflow in Vim before 9.2.0075 allows attackers to crash the editor through a crafted Emacs-style tags file. The emacs_tags_parse_line() function subtracts one from a 0x7f delimiter pointer at the buffer start and dereferences the preceding heap byte before checking bounds. Exploitation requires a user to perform a tag lookup against the malicious file and causes a one-byte out-of-bounds read that can terminate Vim.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-28419
Published
Feb 27, 2026
Updated
Feb 27, 2026
Vendor
Vim
Product
Vim
Classifications
CWE-125, CWE-124, T1499.004, T1204.002
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 27, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 27, 2026Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 9.2.0075

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Vim · Vimversion=< 9.2.0075

Published CVSS scores

6.6NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
5.3GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read
CWE-124Buffer Underwrite ('Buffer Underflow')
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation
T1204.002Malicious File

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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