Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-46483

Command Injection in Vim ≤ 9.2.0479

Command Injection
Published
15 May 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 3.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0055 43th percentile
Risk Priority 21 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-46483 is a low-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Vim Vim. Its CVSS base score is 3.6 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Malicious File (T1204.002); ranked at the 43th 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 AC-6 (Least Privilege) 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 9.2.0479, a command injection vulnerability exists in tar#Vimuntar() in runtime/autoload/tar.vim when decompressing .tgz archives on Unix-like systems. The function builds :!gunzip and :!gzip -d commands using shellescape(tartail) without the…

more

{special} flag, allowing a crafted archive filename to trigger Vim cmdline-special expansion and execute shell commands in the user's context. This vulnerability is fixed in 9.2.0479.

CWE(s)
CWE-78CWE-88

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?

Command injection in Vim tar handler enables Unix shell execution via malicious archive file opened by user.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-44656Same product: Vim Vim
CVE-2026-34714Same 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-2026-28417Same 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
≤ 9.2.0479

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
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)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly requires applying the vendor patch (9.2.0479) that corrects the missing {special} flag in shellescape calls inside tar.vim.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match
prevent

Limits the privileges of the Vim process so that any injected shell commands from a crafted .tgz filename cannot perform high-impact actions.

SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity partial match
preventdetect

Verifies integrity of runtime/autoload/tar.vim (and Vim binaries) to ensure the vulnerable code has not been introduced or remains unpatched.

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.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent argument injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit rules for safe command-line argument handling and escaping.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe command invocation patterns and favor safer APIs.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require proper neutralization of command arguments, directly eliminating CWE-88.

A.8.32 Change management none match
none

Change management can catch unsafe command patterns during reviews but is not a direct mitigation.

References