CVE-2023-1264
vim: NULL pointer dereference issue in utfc_ptr2len
Severity
LowRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · March 7, 2023
Updated · November 22, 2025
Description
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was discovered in vim's utfc_ptr2len() function in the mbyte.c file. This issue is due to using a NULL pointer with the nested :open command. This flaw allows an attacker to trick a user into opening a specially crafted file, triggering an issue 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 · 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference