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[USN-8657-1] Vim vulnerabilities

Posted on 21 August 2026
Ubuntu Security

==========================================================================Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8657-1
August 20, 2026

vim vulnerabilities
==========================================================================
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:

- Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
- Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Summary:

Several security issues were fixed in Vim.

Software Description:
- vim: Vi IMproved - enhanced vi editor

Details:

It was discovered that Vim incorrectly handled memory when decoding
certain JSON input. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause
Vim to crash, resulting in a denial of service. This issue only affected
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
(CVE-2026-73071)

Yazan Balawneh discovered that Vim incorrectly handled memory when
opening certain spell files. An attacker could possibly use this issue to
cause Vim to crash, resulting in a denial of service, or possibly execute
arbitrary code. (CVE-2026-73072)

It was discovered that Vim incorrectly handled memory when processing
certain files with a large number of text properties. An attacker could
possibly use this issue to cause Vim to crash, resulting in a denial of
service, or possibly execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.
(CVE-2026-73074)

It was discovered that Vim incorrectly handled certain vimball files. An
attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code.
(CVE-2026-73076)

It was discovered that Vim incorrectly handled shell arguments during
keyword lookups. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute
arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 24.04
LTS, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. (CVE-2026-73077)

David Carliez discovered that Vim incorrectly handled certain directory
paths when constructing netrw menus. An attacker could possibly use this
issue to execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2026-73078)

Update instructions:

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following
package versions:

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
vim 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-common 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-gtk3 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-gui-common 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-motif 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-nox 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-runtime 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
vim-tiny 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
xxd 2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
vim 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-athena 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-common 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-gtk3 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-gui-common 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-motif 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-nox 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-runtime 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
vim-tiny 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
xxd 2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
vim 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-athena 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-common 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-gtk 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-gtk3 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-gui-common 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-nox 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-runtime 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
vim-tiny 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35
xxd 2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
vim 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-athena 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-common 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk3 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gui-common 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-nox 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-runtime 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-tiny 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro
xxd 2:8.1.2269-1ubuntu5.32+esm12
Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
vim 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-athena 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-common 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gnome 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk3 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gui-common 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-nox 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-runtime 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-tiny 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro
xxd 2:8.0.1453-1ubuntu1.13+esm23
Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
vim 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-athena 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-athena-py2 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-common 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gnome 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gnome-py2 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk-py2 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk3 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk3-py2 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gui-common 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-nox 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-nox-py2 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-runtime 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-tiny 2:7.4.1689-3ubuntu1.5+esm38
Available with Ubuntu Pro

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
vim 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-athena 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-common 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gnome 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gtk 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-gui-common 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-lesstif 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-nox 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-runtime 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro
vim-tiny 2:7.4.052-1ubuntu3.1+esm32
Available with Ubuntu Pro

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

References:
https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8657-1
CVE-2026-28417, CVE-2026-73071, CVE-2026-73072, CVE-2026-73074,
CVE-2026-73076, CVE-2026-73077, CVE-2026-73078

Package Information:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vim/2:9.1.2141-1ubuntu4.8
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vim/2:9.1.0016-1ubuntu7.19
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vim/2:8.2.3995-1ubuntu2.35

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