Description
Vim is a greatly improved version of the good old UNIX editor Vi. Vim allows to redirect screen messages using the `:redir` ex command to register, variables and files. It also allows to show the contents of registers using the `:registers` or `:display` ex command. When redirecting the output of `:display` to a register, Vim will free the register content before storing the new content in the register. Now when redirecting the `:display` command to a register that is being displayed, Vim will free the content while shortly afterwards trying to access it, which leads to a use-after-free. Vim pre 9.1.1115 checks in the ex_display() function, that it does not try to redirect to a register while displaying this register at the same time. However this check is not complete, and so Vim does not check the `+` and `*` registers (which typically donate the X11/clipboard registers, and when a clipboard connection is not possible will fall back to use register 0 instead. In Patch 9.1.1115 Vim will therefore skip outputting to register zero when trying to redirect to the clipboard registers `*` or `+`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
CVSS Metrics
- Vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- Attack Vector
- local
- Complexity
- high
- Privileges
- low
- User Action
- required
- Scope
- unchanged
- Confidentiality
- low
- Integrity
- low
- Availability
- low
- Weaknesses
- CWE-416
Metadata
- Primary Vendor
- VIM
- Published
- 2/18/2025
- Last Modified
- 8/18/2025
- Source
- NIST NVD
- Note: Verify all details with official vendor sources before applying patches.
Affected Products
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