CVE-2016-1248

Summary

CVECVE-2016-1248
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerdebian
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2016-11-23 15:59:00 UTC
Updated2026-05-06 22:30:45 UTC
Descriptionvim before patch 8.0.0056 does not properly validate values for the 'filetype', 'syntax' and 'keymap' options, which may result in the execution of arbitrary code if a file with a specially crafted modeline is opened.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.0 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.159390000 probability, percentile 0.948070000 (date 2026-05-10)

Problem Types: CWE-20 | OS command injection


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.0[email protected]Primary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
2.0[email protected]Primary6.8AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS v3.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Network
Access Complexity
Medium
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 8.0 All All All
Application Vim Vim All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na Vim Before Patch 8.0.0056 affected vim before patch 8.0.0056 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
pkg-vim/vim - Debian's packaging of the Vim project af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 anonscm.debian.org Patch, Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] [DSA 3722-1] vim security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Third Party Advisory
oss-security - vim/neovim: Arbitrary command execution (CVE-2016-1248) af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 openwall.com Patch, Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3722-1 vim af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.debian.org
[SECURITY] [DLA 718-1] vim security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Release v8.0.0056: patch 8.0.0056 · vim/vim · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 rhn.redhat.com
Vim modeline 'filetype' Input Validation Flaw Lets Remote Users Execute Arbitrary Code - SecurityTracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securitytracker.com
USN-3139-1: Vim vulnerability | Ubuntu af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.ubuntu.com
patch 8.0.0056 · vim/vim@d0b5138 · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
vim-patch:8.0.0056 · neovim/neovim@4fad66f · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
Neovim CVE-2016-1248 Command Execution Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com
Vim, gVim: Remote execution of arbitrary code (GLSA 201701-29) — Gentoo security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.gentoo.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 500721 Alpine Linux Security Update for vim
  • 501090 Alpine Linux Security Update for neovim
  • 504495 Alpine Linux Security Update for vim
  • 710405 Gentoo Linux Vim, gVim Remote execution of arbitrary code Vulnerability (GLSA 201701-29)
  • 753066 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for vim (SUSE-SU-2022:4619-1)
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