Medium severity · published May 8, 2026
CVE-2026-44656
Vim: OS Command Injection via 'path' completion
5.3
CVSS
0.9%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to version 9.2.0435, an OS command injection vulnerability exists in Vim's :find command-line completion. When the path option contains backtick-enclosed shell commands, those commands are executed during file name completion. Because the path option lacks the P_SECURE flag, it can be set from a modeline, allowing an attacker who controls the contents of a file to execute arbitrary shell commands when the user opens that file in Vim and triggers :find completion. This issue has been patched in version 9.2.0435.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.9% · higher than 60% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
VI
vim · vim
< 9.2.0435 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44656
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44656
Patch
https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/190cb3c2b9c769a3972bcfd991a7b5b6cb771ef0
Product
https://github.com/vim/vim/releases/tag/v9.2.0435
Patch
https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-hwg5-3cxw-wvvg
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