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VimApplication

CVE-2008-3075

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-02-21
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The shellescape function in Vim 7.0 through 7.2, including 7.2a.10, allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via the "!" (exclamation point) shell metacharacter in (1) the filename of a ZIP archive and possibly (2) the filename of the first file in a ZIP archive, which is not properly handled by zip.vim in the VIM ZIP plugin (zipPlugin.vim) v.11 through v.21, as demonstrated by the zipplugin and zipplugin.v2 test cases. NOTE: this issue reportedly exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2008-2712. NOTE: this issue has the same root cause as CVE-2008-3074. NOTE: due to the complexity of the associated disclosures and the incomplete information related to them, there may be inaccuracies in this CVE description and in external mappings to this identifier.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-94

The application evaluates attacker-influenced input as code, handing them a way to run logic inside the process. Depending on the runtime this can escalate directly to remote code execution. Remediation means removing dynamic evaluation of untrusted input and replacing it with safe, data-driven alternatives.

General guidance for the code injection class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
VimApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 7.1= 7.1.266= 7.1.314= 7.2= 7.2a.10
Zipplugin.vimPlugin / extension
Affected:= v.11= v.12= v.13= v.14= v.15= v.16= v.17= v.18= v.19= v.20= v.21

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.openwall.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Vim 7.2 or later (with zipPlugin.vim version 21 or later)

  1. 1. Identify the current Vim version by running: vim --version
  2. 2. Download Vim 7.2 or later from the official Vim repository (ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unix/vim-7.2.tar.bz2) or use your system's package manager
  3. 3. If using a Linux distribution, update via package manager: apt-get update && apt-get install vim (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum update vim (RHEL/CentOS)
  4. 4. For the zipPlugin.vim, ensure it is updated to version 21 or later. The plugin file is typically located at ~/.vim/plugin/zipPlugin.vim or /usr/share/vim/vimXX/plugin/zipPlugin.vim
  5. 5. Replace the existing zipPlugin.vim with the updated version from Vim 7.2 or later
  6. 6. Verify the fix by checking the plugin version inside the file - look for 'Version 21' or higher in the plugin header
  7. 7. Restart Vim and test with a ZIP file containing a filename with '!' character to confirm the vulnerability is patched
Caveat Minimal risk - Vim 7.2 is a minor version upgrade with backward compatibility. Some old vimrc settings may need review if they rely on behavior specific to 7.0/7.1

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3075 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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