Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-33412

Command Injection in Vim ≤ 9.2.0202

Command Injection
Published
24 March 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0083 54th percentile
Risk Priority 45 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-33412 is a medium-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Vim Vim. Its CVSS base score is 5.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-33412 is a command injection vulnerability in the glob() function of Vim, an open source command line text editor, affecting versions prior to 9.2.0202 on Unix-like systems. The flaw arises when a pattern passed to glob() includes a newline character (\n), enabling arbitrary shell command execution. This issue is tied to the user's 'shell' setting and is classified under CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command).

Exploitation requires local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), low privileges (PR:L), and user interaction (UI:R), with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.6 (C:L/I:H/A:N). A low-privileged local attacker could trick a user into processing a malicious pattern via glob(), such as in a file or script opened in Vim, leading to command injection and potential integrity compromise through arbitrary shell command execution.

The vulnerability has been patched in Vim version 9.2.0202, as detailed in the GitHub commit (645ed6597d1ea896c712cd7ddbb6edee79577e9a), release notes, and security advisory (GHSA-w5jw-f54h-x46c). Security practitioners should update to the fixed version and review configurations involving the 'shell' setting, with further discussion available on the oss-security mailing list.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0202, a command injection vulnerability exists in Vim's glob() function on Unix-like systems. By including a newline character (\n) in a pattern passed to glob(), an attacker may…

more

be able to execute arbitrary shell commands. This vulnerability depends on the user's 'shell' setting. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0202.

CWE(s)
CWE-78

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-34982Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-44656Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-41411Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-42307Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-46483Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-34714Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-28417Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-55895Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-57453Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-39881Same product: Vim Vim

Affected Assets

vim
vim
≤ 9.2.0202

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.

CM-7 Least Functionality partial match

Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.

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 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References