CVE-2023-48706

Publication date 22 November 2023

Last updated 26 August 2025

Ubuntu priority

Medium

Why this priority?

Cvss 3 Severity Score

4.7 · Medium

Score breakdown

Description

Vim is a UNIX editor that, prior to version 9.0.2121, has a heap-use-after-free vulnerability. When executing a `:s` command for the very first time and using a sub-replace-special atom inside the substitution part, it is possible that the recursive `:s` call causes free-ing of memory which may later then be accessed by the initial `:s` command. The user must intentionally execute the payload and the whole process is a bit tricky to do since it seems to work only reliably for the very first :s command. It may also cause a crash of Vim. Version 9.0.2121 contains a fix for this issue.

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
vim 24.04 LTS noble
Fixed 2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2
23.10 mantic
Fixed 2:9.0.1672-1ubuntu2.2
23.04 lunar
Fixed 2:9.0.1000-4ubuntu3.3
22.04 LTS jammy
Fixed 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15
20.04 LTS focal
Not affected
18.04 LTS bionic
Not affected
16.04 LTS xenial
Not affected
14.04 LTS trusty
Not affected

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package Patch details
vim

Severity score breakdown

Parameter Value
Base score 4.7 · Medium
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity High
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality None
Integrity impact None
Availability impact High
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

Other references