A significant vulnerability, classified as problematic, was recently discovered in the widely-used text editor Vim. This vulnerability affects versions up to 9.1.1096 and could potentially be exploited on a local host.

The issue is related to unknown code within the file src/main.c, where manipulation of the --log argument results in memory corruption. To protect your system against this vulnerability, users are encouraged to upgrade to version 9.1.1097.

In this post, we will discuss the details of this vulnerability (CVE-2025-1215), provide a code snippet of the affected area, and offer guidance on how to mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability.

Exploit Details

The vulnerability is present in the src/main.c file of Vim, specifically within the handling of the --log argument. By manipulating this argument, an attacker can trigger memory corruption, potentially leading to unauthorized access or code execution on the local host.

To give an idea of what the problematic code might look like, we present a code snippet below.

Code Snippet

#include "vim.h" /* main Vim header file */

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    // ...
    parse_cmd_line(&argc, argv); // Parse command line arguments
    // ...

    // Vulnerable code below
    for (int i = ; i < argc; ++i)
    {
        if (strcmp(argv[i], "--log") == )
        {
            // Memory corruption occurs here due to improper handling
            // of the --log argument.
        }
    }
    // ...
} 

void parse_cmd_line(int *argc, char **argv)
{
    // Function to parse command line arguments, potentially manipulating the
    // --log argument in a way that causes memory corruption.
}

To address this issue, the developers of Vim released a patch (identified as c5654b84480822817bb7b69ebc97c174c91185e9) which modifies the code to properly handle the --log argument.

Original References

1. Vim Github Repository: The official Vim source code repository.
2. Vim Patch c5654b84480822817bb7b69ebc97c174c91185e9: The official patch that addresses this vulnerability.

Mitigation

The recommended action to protect your system from this vulnerability is to upgrade Vim to version 9.1.1097, which includes the aforementioned patch. This can be achieved using your system's package manager or by downloading the latest version directly from the Vim website.

In conclusion, CVE-2025-1215 is a memory corruption vulnerability found in Vim versions up to 9.1.1096. By manipulating the --log argument in the src/main.c file, an attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability for unauthorized access or code execution. To mitigate the risk associated with this vulnerability, users should upgrade to Vim version 9.1.1097 as soon as possible.

Timeline

Published on: 02/12/2025 19:15:10 UTC
Last modified on: 02/12/2025 20:15:39 UTC