CVE-2023-1170
vim: Heap-based Buffer Overflow
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · March 4, 2023
Updated · June 30, 2026
Description
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability was found in Vim's utf_ptr2char() function of the src/mbyte.c file. This flaw occurs because there is access to invalid memory with put in visual block mode. An attacker can trick a user into opening a specially crafted file, triggering an out-of-bounds read that causes an application to crash, leading to a denial of service.
Statement
Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having a Low security impact, because the "victim" has to run an untrusted file IN SCRIPT MODE. Someone who is running untrusted files in script mode is equivalent to someone just taking a random python script and running it.
Since Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7 are Out-of-Support-Scope for Low/Moderate flaws, the issue is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates for RHEL-6,7. Only Important and Critical severity flaws will be addressed at this time.
For additional information, refer to the Issue Severity Classification: https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification/ and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle & Updates Policy: https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
Untrusted vim scripts with -s [scriptin] are not recommended to run.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 5.3CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read