NeovimApplication

CVE-2026-45130

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.2.0450 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit No privileges 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
Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0450, a heap buffer overflow exists in read_compound() in src/spellfile.c when loading a crafted spell file (.spl) with UTF-8 encoding active. An attacker-controlled length field in the spell file's compound section overflows a 32-bit signed integer multiplication, causing a small buffer to be allocated for a write loop that runs many iterations, overflowing the heap. Because the 'spelllang' option can be set from a modeline, a text file modeline can trigger spell file loading if a malicious .spl file has been planted on the runtimepath. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0450.

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-122

Data overflows a buffer allocated on the heap, corrupting neighbouring heap structures and allocator metadata that a patient attacker can groom into control of execution. It is subtler than a stack overflow but just as dangerous. The fix is validating lengths before every write and using safe allocators and bounded operations.

General guidance for the heap-based buffer overflow 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
NeovimApplication
Affected:<= 0.12.2
VimApplication
Affected:< 9.2.0450

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 9.2.0450 or later
Fixed in 9.2.0450
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Vim: upgrade to version 9.2.0450 or later; Neovim: no specific fixed version listed - monitor Neovim releases

  1. Check current Vim version by running: vim --version
  2. If using Vim version < 9.2.0450, upgrade to version 9.2.0450 or later using your system's package manager or by downloading from https://github.com/vim/vim/releases
  3. For Neovim users: check version via nvim --version; Neovim <= 0.12.2 is affected but no fixed version is specified in the advisory - monitor Neovim releases for a patch addressing this vulnerability
  4. After upgrading, verify the fix by checking: vim --version | grep -i version (should show 9.2.0450 or higher)
  5. Avoid opening spell files (.spl) from untrusted sources, especially when UTF-8 encoding is active
Caveat No known breaking changes for this security patch upgrade

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2026-45130 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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