# CVE-2017-11109: Use after free in n/a

> Attackers can cause a denial of service in Vim via a crafted source file, potentially leading to other unspecified impacts.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Jul 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2017-11109, DLA-1030-1, GHSA-hv76-654r-x97r, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-11109

## What is CVE-2017-11109?

CVE-2017-11109 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Vim Vim, published on 8 Jul 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-11109?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vim Vim.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-11109?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2017-11109 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-11109 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vim Vim

- [CVE-2020-20703](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-20703/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-6349](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6349/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-6350](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6350/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-5953](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-5953/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2008-3075](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3075/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-11109 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-11109 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Vim Vim, published on 8 Jul 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-11109 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Vim Vim. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11109/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11109/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-11109
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-11109
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-11109

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11109/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.