Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-44656

Command Injection in Vim ≤ 9.2.0435

Command Injection
Published
08 May 2026
Modified
24 July 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 4.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0092 57th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-44656 is a medium-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Vim Vim. Its CVSS base score is 4.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Malicious File (T1204.002); ranked in the top 43% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

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

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 9.2.0435, an OS command injection vulnerability exists in Vim's :find command-line completion. When the path option contains backtick-enclosed shell commands, those commands are executed during file name completion.…

more

Because the path option lacks the P_SECURE flag, it can be set from a modeline, allowing an attacker who controls the contents of a file to execute arbitrary shell commands when the user opens that file in Vim and triggers :find completion. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0435.

CWE(s)
CWE-78

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1204.002 Malicious File Execution
An adversary may rely upon a user opening a malicious file in order to gain execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Vulnerability enables arbitrary Unix shell command execution via opening a malicious file (modeline) and triggering :find completion.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-46483Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-42307Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-41411Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-33412Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-34982Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-34714Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-28417Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-55895Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-57454Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-55693Same product: Vim Vim

Affected Assets

vim
vim
≤ 9.2.0435

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • CM-6 Configuration Settings
  • CM-7 Least Functionality
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

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly addresses the unpatched Vim flaw by requiring timely application of the 9.2.0435 fix that adds the P_SECURE flag to the path option.

CM-6 Configuration Settings good match
prevent

Enforces secure Vim configuration settings such as nomodeline or securemodelines to block untrusted modeline-driven changes to the path option.

CM-7 Least Functionality partial match
prevent

Restricts Vim functionality by disabling modeline processing or the :find completion feature when not required, eliminating the attack vector.

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
detects

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

References