CVE-2026-28419 Vim has Heap-based Buffer Underflow in Emacs tags parsing

Medium 5.3 Published 27 Feb 2026 Updated 2 Mar 2026

A heap-based buffer underflow in Vim's Emacs tags parsing allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a crash 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-2026-28419?

CVE-2026-28419 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 9.2.0075, a heap-based buffer underflow exists in Vim's Emacs-style tags file parsing logic. When processing a malformed tags file where a delimiter appears at the start of a line, Vim attempts to read memory immediately preceding the allocated buffer. Version 9.2.0075 fixes the issue.

Weakness: CWE-125, CWE-124

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-28419?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Vim Vim.

How do I fix CVE-2026-28419?

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-2026-28419 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-28419 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Vim Vim vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2026-28419, AZL-78509, BELL-CVE-2026-28419, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-28419, ECHO-e78f-34e3-bc82, GHSA-xcc8-r6c5-hvwv.