CVE-2026-57452

Description

A flaw was found in Vim, an open source command-line text editor. When opening a specially crafted encrypted file using the VimCrypt04! or VimCrypt05! methods, an attacker could trigger an unsigned length calculation error. This issue leads to an out-of-bounds read, causing Vim to crash and resulting in a denial of service.

Statement

This Moderate impact vulnerability in Vim arises from an out-of-bounds read when processing a specially crafted libsodium-encrypted file. If a user opens a malicious file encrypted with VimCrypt04! or VimCrypt05! and the file body is shorter than a single libsodium secretstream header, Vim may crash. This issue requires user interaction to open a malformed file and the +sodium feature to be enabled, limiting its exploitability in typical Red Hat environments.

Mitigation

Ensure the spell checker is turned off by running :set nospell within Vim. Do not open untrusted or suspicious files—particularly those encrypted with libsodium methods (VimCrypt~04! or VimCrypt~05!)—within the Vim editor. This prevents the execution of the vulnerable decryption routine

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score4.7N/A5.5
Attack VectorLocalN/ALocal
Attack ComplexityHighN/ALow
Privileges RequiredNoneN/ANone
User InteractionRequiredN/ARequired
ScopeUnchangedN/AUnchanged
ConfidentialityNoneN/ANone
Integrity ImpactNoneN/ANone
Availability ImpactHighN/AHigh

Vector

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

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

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Memory

An attacker could get secret values such as cryptographic keys, PII, memory addresses, or other information that could be used in additional attacks.

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism

Out-of-bounds memory could contain memory addresses or other information that can be used to bypass ASLR and other protection mechanisms in order to improve the reliability of exploiting a separate weakness for code execution.

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

An attacker could cause a segmentation fault or crash by causing memory to be read outside of the bounds of the buffer. This is especially likely when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string.

Other

Technical Impact: Varies by Context

The read operation could produce other undefined or unexpected results.

Frequently Asked Questions

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