What is CVE-2016-1248?

CVE-2016-1248 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vim, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-11-23.

How severe is CVE-2016-1248?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2016-1248 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Improper input validation in Vim

CVE-2016-1248

vim before patch 8.0.0056 does not properly validate values for the 'filetype', 'syntax' and 'keymap' options, which may result in the execution of arbitrary code if a file with a specially crafted modeline is opened.

Vulnerability class: Drupalgeddon 2 (CVE-2018-7600)

Published 2016-11-23 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.253 (97.9th percentile), scored 2026-09-28.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 98th percentile — 97.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.253 · newest: 0.253 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Vim
Debian Linux — versions 8.0
Vim Before Patch 8.0.0056 — versions vim before patch 8.0.0056

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-20 — Improper Input Validation

Public proof-of-concept exploits

ARPSyndicate/cvemon

References

lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/2016/msg00305.html (Third Party Advisory)
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/11/22/20 (Patch, Third Party Advisory)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/201701-29 (vendor-advisory)
www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3722 (vendor-advisory)
github.com/vim/vim/commit/d0b5138ba4bccff8a744c99836041ef6322ed39a (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2016/11/msg00025.html (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3139-1 (vendor-advisory)
www.securitytracker.com/id/1037338 (vdb-entry)
github.com/neovim/neovim/commit/4fad66fbe637818b6b3d6bc5d21923ba72795040 (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/94478 (vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-1248?: CVE-2016-1248 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vim, classified under Improper Input Validation. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2016-11-23.
How severe is CVE-2016-1248?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2016-1248 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.