CVE-2026-28418 Vim has Heap-based Buffer Overflow in Emacs tags parsing

Medium 4.4 Published 27 Feb 2026 Updated 2 Mar 2026

A heap-based buffer overflow in Vim's Emacs tags parsing allows attackers to cause crashes or potentially execute code via a malformed tags file.

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

What is CVE-2026-28418?

CVE-2026-28418 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Vim Vim, published on 27 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 9.2.0074, a heap-based buffer overflow out-of-bounds read exists in Vim's Emacs-style tags file parsing logic. When processing a malformed tags file, Vim can be tricked into reading up to 7 bytes beyond the allocated memory boundary. Version 9.2.0074 fixes the issue.

Weakness: CWE-125, CWE-122

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-28418?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Vim Vim.

How do I fix CVE-2026-28418?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2026-28418 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-28418 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Vim Vim vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2026-28418, AZL-78506, BELL-CVE-2026-28418, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-28418, ECHO-2fe0-bd26-f8d7, GHSA-h4mf-vg97-hj8j.