CVE-2008-6235

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.3 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 3.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2009-02-21 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-78

Description

The Netrw plugin (netrw.vim) in Vim 7.0 and 7.1 allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a filename used by the (1) "D" (delete) command or (2) b:netrw_curdir variable, as demonstrated using the netrw.v4 and netrw.v5 test cases.

Affected products

vim/vim: 7.0, 7.1

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-03/msg00004.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/34418
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/16/2
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/20/2
http://www.rdancer.org/vulnerablevim-netrw.html
http://www.rdancer.org/vulnerablevim-netrw.v2.html
http://www.rdancer.org/vulnerablevim-netrw.v5.html
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0580.html
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A11247
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2009-03/msg00004.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/34418
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/16/2

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