CVE-2022-0319 Out-of-bounds Read in vim/vim prior to 8.2.

When using a large amount of RAM or a high I/O workload, this can cause the program to crash. This can be fixed by increasing the minimum value allowed for the ‘memleak’ option. To do this, edit your vim configuration Typically, this type of crash is caused by a memory access outside the current code block. This can be caused by a number of factors, such as not closing all processes when you no longer need the connection to a web server. When you suspect this to be the problem, you can usually find the crash report by Googling ‘vim crash report’ with the version of vim that you are using.

Slow Performance in vim/vim prior to 8.2.

Vim has a variety of options to control the performance of the code editor. This can be done by altering the settings, or enabling certain plugins. For example, you can change the amount of RAM that is allocated to vim. To do this, edit the vim configuration file (typically located at ~/.vim/vimrc) and change the value of the ‘vim_mem_reserve’ option.

References:

1. https://code.google.com/p/vim-wiki/wiki/Vim_Performance_Tips#When_using_a_large_amount_of_RAM
2. https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Memleak

vim configuration file – ~/.vimrc

" Maximum number of lines kept in the undo stack. If 0, no limit.
set undolevels=0

vim configuration file

To edit this file, you need to open up your vim editor. Then, type in the following command:

:edit ~/.vimrc
You will then be prompted with a message saying ‘File changed successfully’ and you can save the file.

If you don't have the option to edit your vim configuration file, we can still provide information on why it crashed. If there is an error in your code that caused the crash, try adding an ‘ignore’ comment at the beginning of the line that caused the error so that it doesn't happen again. Another option is to use another editor while editing your code so you can focus more on what needs to be done and not on where errors have been made.

Vim 8.0 or higher

Vim 8.0 or higher can have a number of options to customize the performance of the code editor. For example, you can lower the amount of RAM that is allocated to vim by changing the value of the ‘mem_limit’ option in your vim configuration file (typically located at ~/.vim/vimrc).

Timeline

Published on: 01/21/2022 14:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 08/26/2022 17:43:00 UTC