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Arch Linux: ASA-201702-12 Medium: Gvim Arbitrary Code Execution

Calendar Feb 15, 2017 • User Avatar LinuxSecurity Advisories
1 min read
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security advisory medium severity arbitrary code execution gvim arch linux
The package gvim before version 8.0.0322-1 is vulnerable to arbitrary code execution. 
Arch Linux Security Advisory ASA-201702-12
=========================================
Severity: Medium
Date    : 2017-02-15
CVE-ID  : CVE-2017-5953
Package : gvim
Type    : arbitrary code execution
Remote  : No
Link    : https://security.archlinux.org/AVG-174

Summary
======
The package gvim before version 8.0.0322-1 is vulnerable to arbitrary
code execution.

Resolution
=========
Upgrade to 8.0.0322-1.

# pacman -Syu "gvim>=8.0.0322-1"

The problem has been fixed upstream in version 8.0.0322.

Workaround
=========
None.

Description
==========
It was found that vim does not properly validate values for tree length
when handling a spell file, which may result in an integer overflow at
a memory allocation site and a resultant buffer overflow.

Impact
=====
An attacker is able to execute arbitrary code on the affected host by
tricking a user to use a specially crafted spell file.

References
=========
https://github.com/vim/vim/commit/399c297aa93afe2c0a39e2a1b3f972aebba44c9d
https://groups.google.com/forum/#%21topic/vim_dev/t-3RSdEnrHY
https://security.archlinux.org/CVE-2017-5953