# CVE-2022-1620: NULL Pointer Dereference in function vim_regexec_string at regexp.c:2729 in vim/vim

> Attackers can cause a denial of service via application crash in Vim by providing crafted input to the regular expression engine.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 May 2022
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2022-1620, AZL-9704, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-1620, GHSA-5fw2-mj64-qv7f, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-1620

## What is CVE-2022-1620?

CVE-2022-1620 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Macos, published on 8 May 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

NULL Pointer Dereference in function vim_regexec_string at regexp.c:2729 in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 8.2.4901. NULL Pointer Dereference in function vim_regexec_string at regexp.c:2729 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted input.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-1620?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Apple Macos, Fedoraproject Fedora, Vim Vim.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-1620?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2022-1620 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-1620 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Macos

- [CVE-2026-65400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-65400/): Apple macOS Improper Authentication (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-44146](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44146/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-44148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-44148/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-38586](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38586/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-40455](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40455/): Security feature bypass in macOS (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-1620 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-1620 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apple Macos, published on 8 May 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-1620 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Apple Macos. 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-2022-1620/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1620/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-1620
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-1620
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-1620

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1620/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.