CVE-2025-55157: vim Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2025-55157 is a high (CVSS 8.8) Use After Free vulnerability in vim. EPSS estimates a 0.36% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 27.6% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 11-08-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 12-08-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Vim is an open source, command line text editor. In versions from 9.1.1231 to before 9.1.1400, When processing nested tuples in Vim script, an error during evaluation can trigger a use-after-free in Vim’s internal tuple reference management. Specifically, the tuple_unref() function may access already freed memory due to improper lifetime handling, leading to memory corruption. The exploit requires direct user interaction, as the script must be explicitly executed within Vim. This issue has been patched in version 9.1.1400.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.