ubuntu-cve-2023-48706
Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu
Published
2023-11-22 22:15
Modified
2025-09-08 16:56
Summary
Details

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.

Severity
4.7 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.6 (Low)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
N/A (UNKNOWN)
medium
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "No subscription required",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "vim",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-athena",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-common",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-gtk",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-gtk3",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-gui-common",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-nox",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-runtime",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-tiny",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "xxd",
            "binary_version": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:22.04:LTS",
        "name": "vim",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/vim@2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15?arch=source\u0026distro=jammy"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.15"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "2:8.2.2434-3ubuntu3",
        "2:8.2.2434-3ubuntu4",
        "2:8.2.3565-1ubuntu1",
        "2:8.2.3565-1ubuntu2",
        "2:8.2.3565-1ubuntu3",
        "2:8.2.3565-1ubuntu5",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu1",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.1",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.3",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.4",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.5",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.7",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.8",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.9",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.10",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.11",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.12",
        "2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.13"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "No subscription required",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "vim",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-athena",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-common",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-gtk3",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-gui-common",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-motif",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-nox",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-runtime",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "vim-tiny",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "xxd",
            "binary_version": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:24.04:LTS",
        "name": "vim",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/vim@2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2?arch=source\u0026distro=noble"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "2:9.0.1672-1ubuntu2",
        "2:9.0.2087-1ubuntu1",
        "2:9.0.2116-1ubuntu1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "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.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-48706",
  "modified": "2025-09-08T16:56:35Z",
  "published": "2023-11-22T22:15:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-48706"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-c8qm-x72m-q53q"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/vim/vim/pull/13552"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/gandalf4a/crash_report/blob/main/vim/vim_huaf"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/11/22/3"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6557-1"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-48706"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "USN-6557-1"
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2023-48706"
  ]
}



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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
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