High severity · published Aug 11, 2026
CVE-2026-73078
Vim: Arbitrary Code Execution via Netrw Menu Construction
8.8
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to 9.2.0840, runtime/plugin/netrwPlugin.vim loads netrw and runtime/pack/dist/opt/netrw/autoload/netrw.vim constructs Bookmarks, History, and Targets menu entries by interpolating attacker-controlled directory paths into executed :menu commands. s:NetrwBookmarkMenu(), s:NetrwTgtMenu(), g:netrw_menu_escape, EX_TRLBAR, and netrw#MakeTgt() fail to neutralize the | command separator or single quotes at five construction sites, allowing a crafted path browsed or bookmarked in GUI Vim to execute arbitrary Ex and operating-system commands. This issue is fixed in version 9.2.0840.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 24% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
VI
vim · vim
< 9.2.0840 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73078
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-73078
Patch
https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/29c6fd090d4520592f8be7d9ec81190edf25ef69
Patch
https://github.com/vim/vim/security/advisories/GHSA-rcr7-f3wr-22r2
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