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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.3

CVE-2008-2712 in the critical feed json

Vim 7.1.314, 6.4, and other versions allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via Vim scripts that do not proper…

published 2008-06-16 18 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2008-2706

cvss
9.3
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
15.0%
EPSS 15.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 96%
public exploits
1
Exploit-DB

Summary

Vim 7.1.314, 6.4, and other versions allows user-assisted remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via Vim scripts that do not properly sanitize inputs before invoking the execute or system functions, as demonstrated using (1) filetype.vim, (3) xpm.vim, (4) gzip_vim, and (5) netrw. NOTE: the originally reported version was 7.1.314, but the researcher actually found this set of issues in 7.1.298. NOTE: the zipplugin issue (originally vector 2 in this identifier) has been subsumed by CVE-2008-3075.

Patch / fix

  • vim Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1:7.1.314-3

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2008-2712

  • vim RHEL 3 1:6.3.046-0.30E.11
  • vim RHEL 4 1:6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
  • vim-X11 RHEL 3 1:6.3.046-0.30E.11
  • vim-X11 RHEL 4 1:6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
  • vim-common RHEL 3 1:6.3.046-0.30E.11
  • vim-common RHEL 4 1:6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
  • vim-minimal RHEL 3 1:6.3.046-0.30E.11
  • vim-minimal RHEL 4 1:6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z

red hat advisories RHSA-2008:0617RHSA-2008:0618RHSA-2008:0580

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2008-2712 updated

vim: command execution via scripts not sanitizing inputs to execute and system

  • Red Hat Desktop version 3 vim 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-X11 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-common 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-minimal 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-0.30E.11
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0617
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (v. 5 server) vim 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-X11 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-common 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-minimal 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-enhanced 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0580
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (Advanced Server) version 2.1 vim 6.0-7.25, vim-X11 6.0-7.25, vim-common 6.0-7.25, vim-minimal 6.0-7.25, vim-enhanced 6.0-7.25
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0618
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 3 vim 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-X11 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-common 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-minimal 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-0.30E.11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 vim 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-X11 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-common 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-minimal 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0617
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 5 client) vim 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-X11 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-common 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-minimal 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z, vim-enhanced 7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0580
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop version 4 vim 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-X11 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-common 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-minimal 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0617
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 2.1 vim 6.0-7.25, vim-X11 6.0-7.25, vim-common 6.0-7.25, vim-minimal 6.0-7.25, vim-enhanced 6.0-7.25
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0618
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 3 vim 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-X11 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-common 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-minimal 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-0.30E.11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 vim 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-X11 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-common 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-minimal 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0617
show 3 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 2.1 vim 6.0-7.25, vim-X11 6.0-7.25, vim-common 6.0-7.25, vim-minimal 6.0-7.25, vim-enhanced 6.0-7.25
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0618
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 3 vim 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-X11 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-common 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-minimal 6.3.046-0.30E.11, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-0.30E.11 Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 vim 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-X11 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-common 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-minimal 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z, vim-enhanced 6.3.046-1.el4_7.5z
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0617
  • Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation 2.1 vim 6.0-7.25, vim-X11 6.0-7.25, vim-common 6.0-7.25, vim-minimal 6.0-7.25, vim-enhanced 6.0-7.25
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2008:0618

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (EDB-31911)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

15.04% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • EDB-31911 Vim 7.x - Vim Script Multiple Command Execution Vulnerabilities local, 2008-06-14

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 9.3 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.