# CVE-2026-25749: Heap Overflow in Vim

> A heap buffer overflow in Vim's tag file resolution allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a crash via a crafted helpfile option.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 9 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2026-25749, ALSA-2026:4442, ALSA-2026:4715, ALSA-2026:5602, AZL-76764, AZL-77411, BELL-CVE-2026-25749, CLSA-2026-1774017921, CLSA-2026-1774607178, CLSA-2026-1774607944, CLSA-2026-1787083167, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-25749, ECHO-cd9f-8404-8ddc, GHSA-5w93-4g67-mm43, OESA-2026-1365, RHSA-2026:4442, RHSA-2026:4715, RHSA-2026:5602, RLSA-2026:4442, RLSA-2026:4715, RLSA-2026:5602

## What is CVE-2026-25749?

CVE-2026-25749 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Vim Vim, published on 6 Feb 2026. 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 is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.1.2132, a heap buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Vim's tag file resolution logic when processing the 'helpfile' option. The vulnerability is located in the get_tagfname() function in src/tag.c. When processing help file tags, Vim copies the user-controlled 'helpfile' option value into a fixed-size heap buffer of MAXPATHL + 1 bytes (typically 4097 bytes) using an unsafe STRCPY() operation without any bounds checking. This issue has been patched in version 9.1.2132.

Weakness: CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-25749?

It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vim-data` | AlmaLinux:10 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-filesystem` | AlmaLinux:10 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-X11` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-common` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-enhanced` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-filesystem` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-minimal` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-X11` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-common` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-enhanced` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-filesystem` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-minimal` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-X11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-enhanced` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-minimal` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim-X11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-enhanced` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-minimal` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim-X11` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-enhanced` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::baseos | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim-minimal` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::baseos | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |
| `vim` | Rocky Linux:10 | All versions | 2:9.1.083-6.el10_1.1 |
| `vim` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 2:8.0.1763-22.el8_10 |
| `vim` | Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 2:8.2.2637-23.el9_7.1 |

Products: Neovim Neovim, Vim Vim.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-25749?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-25749 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-25749 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Vim Vim

- [CVE-2019-12735](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12735/): Command injection in n/a (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2022-3591](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3591/): Use After Free in vim/vim (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-45130](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45130/): Vim: Heap Buffer Overflow in spell file loading (medium 6.6)
- [CVE-2024-43374](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43374/): Vim heap-use-after-free in src/arglist.c:207 (medium 4.5)
- [CVE-2025-22134](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22134/): heap-buffer-overflow with visual mode in Vim < 9.1.1003 (medium 4.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-25749 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-25749 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Vim Vim, published on 6 Feb 2026. 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-2026-25749 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-2026-25749/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25749/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-25749
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-25749
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-25749

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25749/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.