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CVE-2026-44656: Vim: OS Command Injection via 'path' completion

• Severity: medium (CVSS 5.3 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-05-08 · updated 2026-07-24
• Weakness: CWE-78

Description

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. 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.

Affected products

• vim/vim: before 9.2.0435 — fixed in 9.2.0435

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: vim/vim 9.2.0435. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/190cb3c2b9c769a3972bcfd991a7b5b6cb771ef0
• https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.2.0435
• https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-hwg5-3cxw-wvvg

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