Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-28418

Memory Safety in Vim ≤ 9.2.0074

Published
27 February 2026
Modified
03 March 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0022 13th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-28418 is a medium-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Vim Vim. Its CVSS base score is 4.4 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked at the 13th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and CM-6 (Configuration Settings) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0074, a heap-based buffer overflow out-of-bounds read exists in Vim's Emacs-style tags file parsing logic. When processing a malformed tags file, Vim can be tricked into reading up…

more

to 7 bytes beyond the allocated memory boundary. Version 9.2.0074 fixes the issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

Insufficient information to map techniques.
Confidence: LOW · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-28420Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2023-1170Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2023-0288Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2023-0051Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2023-0433Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-28421Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2024-45306Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-25749Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2023-0049Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-45130Same product: Vim Vim

Affected Assets

vim
vim
≤ 9.2.0074

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • CM-6 Configuration Settings
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires applying the vendor patch (9.2.0074) that eliminates the out-of-bounds read in tags-file parsing.

prevent

Enforces configuration settings that restrict or disable Emacs-style tags processing or limit Vim to known-safe versions.

detect

Verifies integrity of the Vim binary and tags files, detecting unauthorized or malformed inputs that could trigger the overflow.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
detects

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

References