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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.3

CVE-2008-6235 json

The Netrw plugin (netrw.vim) in Vim 7.0 and 7.1 allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a…

published 2009-02-21 17 y ago modified 2026-06-16 4 mo ago also EUVD-2008-6205

cvss
9.3
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
3.0%
EPSS 3.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 87%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The Netrw plugin (netrw.vim) in Vim 7.0 and 7.1 allows user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a filename used by the (1) "D" (delete) command or (2) b:netrw_curdir variable, as demonstrated using the netrw.v4 and netrw.v5 test cases.

Patch / fix

  • vim Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 2:7.2.148-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2008-6235

  • vim RHEL 5 2:7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
  • vim-X11 RHEL 5 2:7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
  • vim-common RHEL 5 2:7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
  • vim-minimal RHEL 5 2:7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z
  • vim-enhanced RHEL 5 2:7.0.109-4.el5_2.4z

red hat advisories RHSA-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-2008-6235 updated

plugin: lack of sanitization throughout netrw.vim can lead to arbitrary code execution

  • 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 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 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

Exploit prediction

2.99% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 87% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • rdancer.org http://www.rdancer.org/vulnerablevim-netrw.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • rdancer.org http://www.rdancer.org/vulnerablevim-netrw.v5.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • openwall.com http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2008/10/16/2 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

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-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command

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.