CVE-2026-73077
Description
A vulnerability in Vim's shell script plugins (sh.vim, zsh.vim, ps1.vim) allows arbitrary code execution if a user selects maliciously crafted text in Visual mode and triggers a keyword lookup, due to improperly escaped shell metacharacters.
Statement
This Important vulnerability in Vim's shell plugins allows full system compromise in Red Hat environments if a user selects crafted text in Visual mode and triggers a keyword lookup. This does not affect RHEL 9 and older versions.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, users can disable the `keywordprg` option for shell script filetypes. This prevents Vim from executing external commands via the `K` command with potentially untrusted input. Create or edit the following files in your Vim configuration directory:
- `~/.vim/after/ftplugin/sh.vim`: `setlocal keywordprg=`
- `~/.vim/after/ftplugin/zsh.vim`: `setlocal keywordprg=`
- `~/.vim/after/ftplugin/ps1.vim`: `setlocal keywordprg=`
This change takes effect the next time a shell script is opened in Vim.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.3 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability,Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Hide Activities
Attackers could execute unauthorized operating system commands, which could then be used to disable the product, or read and modify data for which the attacker does not have permissions to access directly. Since the targeted application is directly executing the commands instead of the attacker, any malicious activities may appear to come from the application or the application's owner.
Frequently Asked Questions
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