CVE-2026-43961
HIGH 7.8A flaw was found in Vim's netrw plugin. A crafted filename containing quote characters and expression fragments can break out of the quoted context during mark/unmark operations, allowing arbitrary Vimscript execution. This can be leveraged to run shell commands with the privileges of the user running Vim.
Severe if exploited (CVSS 7.8), but no known exploitation and low modeled probability. Patch on a normal cadence.
Exploitation likelihood
0.2%chance of exploitation in 30 days · 6th percentile
Impact if exploited
7.8CVSS 3.1 · HIGH
- ConfidentialityHigh
- IntegrityHigh
- AvailabilityHigh
What an attacker needs
- ⚠Access: Requires local access to the host
- ✓Privileges: No account or privileges required
- ⚠User interaction: A user must take an action (click / open a file)
- ✓Complexity: No special conditions — reliably repeatable
✓ lowers the bar for an attacker · ⚠ raises it
Proof of concept & exploit code
- github-search Search GitHub for public PoC repos
Test against your own equipment
curl -s https://vulnpedia.com/cve/CVE-2026-43961/poc.jsonMachine-readable PoC index for this CVE (for automation).Listed for defensive triage, patch verification, and authorized testing on systems you own. Machine-readable: /cve/CVE-2026-43961/poc.json
Affected
Products Vim Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 Red Hat Openshift Container Platform 4
Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
All CVSS metrics
- HIGH 7.8 v3.1 · CNA Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - HIGH 7.8 v3.1 · NVD Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H