CVE-2026-52859

Description

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0565, the update_snapshot() function in src/terminal.c copies the visible terminal screen into the scrollback buffer when a snapshot is taken. For each screen cell it walks the cell's chars[] array with no upper bound, stopping only when it encounters a NUL terminator. When a cell legitimately fills all VTERM_MAX_CHARS_PER_CELL (6) slots — a base character plus five combining marks — the bundled libvterm returns the array without a terminating NUL, so the loop reads past the fixed six-element array and appends the out-of-bounds values to a buffer reserved for only six characters. A program whose output is rendered inside a :terminal window can trigger this with a short byte sequence and no Vim scripting, leading to a crash. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0565.

CVSS v3.1 Score

8.2

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0030

Probability of exploitation

0.22%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
vim	vim	< 9.2.0565

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/63680c6d3d52477817b49cd1a66e7aabe8a7aa19 https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-47gw-8gc3-mgcm

Other References

https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.2.0565

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-52859? +

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0565, the update_snapshot() function in src/terminal.c copies the visible terminal screen into the scrollback buffer when a snapshot is taken. For each screen cell it walks the cell's chars[] array with no upper bound, stopping only when it encounters a NUL terminator. When a cell legitimately fills all VTERM_MAX_CHARS_PER_CELL (6) slots — a base character plus five combining marks — the bundled libvterm returns the array without a terminating NUL, so the loop reads past the fixed six-element array and appends the out-of-bounds values to a buffer reserved for only six characters. A program whose output is rendered inside a :terminal window can trigger this with a short byte sequence and no Vim scripting, leading to a crash. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0565. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-52859? +

CVE-2026-52859 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.2 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0030, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-52859? +

CVE-2026-52859 affects products from vim, specifically: vim. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-52859? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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