Medium

Heap-based buffer overflow in Vim wildcard filename expansion

IdentifiersCVE-2008-3432CWE-122

CVE-2008-3432 is a heap-based buffer overflow in the mch_expand_wildcards function in os_unix.c in Vim 6.2 and 6.3. The flaw is triggered during expansion of file name patterns containing shell wildcards when Vim processes specially crafted filenames containing shell metacharacters. An attacker can place a maliciously named file or directory such that, when a user opens or otherwise causes Vim to process it, memory corruption occurs on the heap. The issue was demonstrated by the netrw.v3 test case. Successful exploitation can result in a crash or arbitrary code execution in the context of the user running Vim.

For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

Mallory correlates every CVE against your assets, your vendors, and active adversary campaigns. Know which vulnerabilities matter for you, not just which ones are loud.

Start free trial

ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation may allow arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user running Vim. Depending on that user's privileges and environment, this can lead to compromise of the affected account and potentially broader system compromise. At minimum, the vulnerability can also cause Vim to stop responding or crash, resulting in denial of service.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, avoid opening or browsing untrusted files and directories with Vim, especially where attacker-controlled filenames may contain shell metacharacters. Restrict access to systems or consoles where vulnerable Vim instances are used, including VMware ESX Service Console environments. Limit exposure to untrusted content sources and use least-privilege accounts when running Vim to reduce impact.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Vim to a fixed version that addresses CVE-2008-3432. In VMware ESX Service Console environments, apply the vendor patches identified in VMSA-2009-00043: ESX 4.0: ESX400-200912402-SG; ESX 3.5: ESX350-200904406-SG for Vim; ESX 3.0.3: ESX303-200903403-SG for Vim; ESX 3.0.2: ESX-1008406 for Vim; ESX 2.5.5: Upgrade Patch 13. More generally, deploy the vendor-supplied fixed Vim package for affected Unix platforms.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

VimVimapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

1 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

1 SOURCESView more in app

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

Start free trial

Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity