CVE-2023-4752VulnerabilityPublished 4 Sep 2023Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-4752: vim/vim · Use After Free

Affects vim/vimSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High : upgrade to 9.0.1858 soon.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.0 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 46% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 9.0.1858

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

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

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Sep 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade vim/vim to 9.0.1858.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubvim/vim`pkg:github/vim/vim`Other threats	Affected <9.0.1858	Fixed in 9.0.1858

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. Immediately update vim to version 9.0.1858 or later once the patch is officially released and available from trusted sources. 2. Until patched, restrict local access to systems running vulnerable vim versions by enforcing strict user permissions and limiting login capabilities. 3. Educate users about the risks of opening untrusted files or executing unverified commands within vim to reduce the risk of triggering the vulnerability. 4. Employ application whitelisting and endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious behavior related to vim processes. 5. Regularly audit and inventory installed software versions across the organization to identify and remediate vulnerable instances promptly. 6. Consider deploying sandboxing or containerization for development environments to isolate potential exploitation attempts. 7. 8. Implement robust logging and alerting to detect anomalous activities that could indicate exploitation attempts.

Description

Use After Free in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 9.0.1858.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-4752 can be substantial, especially in sectors relying heavily on open-source software and development tools, such as technology firms, research institutions, and government agencies. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized code execution, allowing attackers to escalate privileges, exfiltrate sensitive data, or disrupt critical services. Since vim is commonly installed on Linux and Unix-like systems used in enterprise environments, the vulnerability could affect a broad range of servers and workstations. The requirement for local access limits remote exploitation but raises concerns for insider threats or attackers who gain initial foothold through other means. The high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability means that successful exploitation could compromise entire systems or networks, potentially affecting data privacy compliance under GDPR and other regulations. Organizations with remote or hybrid workforces may face increased risk if endpoint security is insufficient.

Summary

CVE-2023-4752 is a use-after-free vulnerability classified under CWE-416 found in the vim text editor, a widely used open-source tool for text editing and programming. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 9.0.1858 and allows an attacker to exploit a memory management flaw where vim attempts to use memory after it has been freed. This can lead to undefined behavior including crashes, data corruption, or arbitrary code execution. The CVSS 3.0 base score of 7.8 reflects a high severity due to the potential for complete compromise of the affected system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack vector is local (AV:L), requiring the attacker to have access to the system where vim is installed. No privileges are required (PR:N), but user interaction is necessary (UI:R), meaning the attacker must trick the user into opening a crafted file or executing a malicious command within vim. The scope is unchanged (S:U), indicating the impact is limited to the vulnerable component. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the nature of the vulnerability makes it a significant risk, especially in environments where vim is used extensively for editing code or configuration files.

CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Nov 2025, 22:08 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats