Vulnerabilities in the Vim and GNU Emacs text editors can allow remote code execution simply by opening a specially crafted file, and a researcher used the Claude assistant to generate multiple proof-of-concept exploits and mitigation suggestions. Vim was patched in version 9.2.0272 while the Emacs issue remains unpatched due to maintainers attributing the root cause to Git’s behavior; users should avoid opening files from untrusted sources. #Vim #GNUEmacs
Keypoints
- A researcher used the Claude assistant to find RCE bugs in Vim and GNU Emacs triggered by opening files.
- Vim’s modeline handling and missing security checks allowed sandbox escape and arbitrary command execution.
- Vim versions 9.2.0271 and earlier are affected and were patched in 9.2.0272 after disclosure.
- GNU Emacs’ vc-git integration can cause Git to execute a user-defined core.fsmonitor program from an attacker-controlled .git/config, and the issue remains unpatched.
- Users should avoid opening files from untrusted sources, and Emacs could mitigate risk by blocking core.fsmonitor when invoking Git.