CVE-2023-46246 | Integer Overflow in :history command in Vim

Exp

Vim is an improved version of the good old UNIX editor Vi. Heap-use-after-free in memory allocated in the function `ga_grow_inner` in in the file `src/alloc.c` at line 748, which is freed in the file `src/ex_docmd.c` in the function `do_cmdline` at line 1010 and then used again in `src/cmdhist.c` at line 759. When using the `:history` command, it's possible that the provided argument overflows the accepted value. Causing an Integer Overflow and potentially later an use-after-free. This vulnerability has been patched in version 9.0.2068.

Published: 2023-10-27 Last update: 2025-02-13 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-46246 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-46246

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-46246

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-11-21 0.10% 0.01% -0.08%
2 2025-11-18 0.01% 0.10% +0.08%
3 2025-04-15 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-46246

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.5 1.4 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-46246

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-46246

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-46246: 1 source package rows (vim); 176 state rows across 6 repos (3.17-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 176. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-46246
debian unimportant CVE-2023-46246 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (vim), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-46246
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-46246
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-46246/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-46246 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (vim), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 7, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-46246

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-46246

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vim vim < 9.0.2068 cpe:2.3:a:vim:vim:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-46246

cvelogic Threat Intelligence