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Unrated severityNVD Advisory· Published Nov 16, 2023· Updated Feb 13, 2025

overflow in ex address parsing in vim

CVE-2023-48235

Description

Vim 9.0.2109 and earlier have an integer overflow when parsing relative ex addresses, potentially causing a crash.

AI Insight

LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.

Vim 9.0.2109 and earlier have an integer overflow when parsing relative ex addresses, potentially causing a crash.

Vulnerability

An integer overflow occurs in Vim's relative ex address handling, specifically within the overflow check that computes LONG_MAX - lnum. This happens because the line number can become negative during parsing of a relative address like .-1, leading to a subtraction that wraps around and bypasses the intended overflow detection. The issue affects Vim versions prior to the fix commit 060623e, which is included in release 9.0.2110 [1].

Exploitation

An attacker must trick a user into opening a crafted file or entering a malicious ex command that includes a relative address. No special network position or authentication is required beyond user interaction. The exploitation sequence involves supplying a file or command that triggers parsing of a relative ex address with a large line offset, causing the negative line number and subsequent integer overflow in the overflow check [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation can cause Vim to crash, resulting in a denial of service. Impact is rated low because a crash may not occur in all situations, user interaction is required, and there is no evidence of further consequences such as code execution or information disclosure [1].

Mitigation

The fix is contained in commit 060623e and included in Vim version 9.0.2110. Users should upgrade to this or a later release. No workarounds are known [1].

References
  1. security - [vim-security] several minor security issues in Vim v9.0.2106-v9.0.2112

AI Insight generated on May 25, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.

Affected products

27

Patches

0

No patches discovered yet.

Vulnerability mechanics

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References

7

News mentions

0

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