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VimApplication

CVE-2017-11109

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-07-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
Vim 8.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid free) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted source (aka -S) file. NOTE: there might be a limited number of scenarios in which this has security relevance.

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 · moderate confidence

Vim 8.0 contains a use-after-free vulnerability where a crafted source file executed via the -S flag triggers an invalid free() call, leading to denial of service and potentially other unspecified impact.

MitigationUpdate Vim to a patched version beyond 8.0, or avoid using the -S flag with untrusted source files.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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:= 8.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Vim version
    Run 'vim --version' or 'vim -version' and look for the version number in the output
    Affected if The version shown is exactly 8.0 (no patch level indicated)
  2. Identify Vim binary location
    Run 'which vim' or 'where vim' to locate the Vim executable, then run 'vim --version' on that specific binary if multiple versions exist
    Affected if The executable at that path reports version 8.0
  3. Search for -S flag usage in scripts
    Search your scripts, aliases, and command history for 'vim -S' or 'gvim -S' patterns, especially with file arguments from untrusted sources
    Affected if The -S flag is used to execute source files, particularly from untrusted or external sources
  4. Review automation invoking Vim
    Inspect any cron jobs, systemd units, or CI/CD pipelines that invoke Vim with the -S flag
    Affected if Automation uses -S to source script files

You are affected only if your Vim installation is exactly version 8.0 AND you use the -S flag to execute source files, particularly from untrusted origins.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Vim to a patched version beyond 8.0, or avoid using the -S flag with untrusted source files.

Fix this in Vim Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2017-11109 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data