Vim netrw Arbitrary Vimscript via Quote Breakout in Mark/Unmark
CVE-2026-43961 Published on August 19, 2026

Vim: vimscript injection via unescaped filename in netrw s:netrwmarkfile() filter() expression allows arbitrary code execution
A flaw was found in Vim's netrw plugin. A crafted filename containing quote characters and expression fragments can break out of the quoted context during mark/unmark operations, allowing arbitrary Vimscript execution. This can be leveraged to run shell commands with the privileges of the user running Vim.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-43961 can be exploited with local system access, requires user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.

Attack Vector:
LOCAL
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
REQUIRED
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Timeline

Reported to Red Hat.

Made public. 120 days later.

Weakness Type

What is a Code Injection Vulnerability?

The software constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment.

CVE-2026-43961 has been classified to as a Code Injection vulnerability or weakness.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-43961

You can be notified by email with stack.watch whenever vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-43961 are published in these products:

Canonical Ubuntu Linux
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
 
Red Hat Openshift
 

Affected Versions

vim: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4: