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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2018-11319

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2018-05-20
  • WeaknessCWE-22

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Syntastic (aka vim-syntastic) through 3.9.0 does not properly handle searches for configuration files (it searches the current directory up to potentially the root). This improper handling might be exploited for arbitrary code execution via a malicious gcc plugin, if an attacker has write access to a directory that is a parent of the base directory of the project being checked. NOTE: exploitation is more difficult after 3.8.0 because filename prediction may be needed.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2018-05-2020:29CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

NVD
Debian debian linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
8.0= 8.0no fix published
9.0= 9.0no fix published
Syntastic project syntastic
BranchAffectedFixed in
3.9≤ 3.9.0no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • vim-syntasticUbuntu:18.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listed
  • vim-syntasticUbuntu:16.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 3.7.0-1+deb9u2build0.16.04.1
  • vim-syntasticDebian:14all versions · fixed in 3.9.0-1
  • vim-syntasticDebian:13all versions · fixed in 3.9.0-1
  • vim-syntasticDebian:12all versions · fixed in 3.9.0-1
  • vim-syntasticDebian:9all versions · fixed in 3.7.0-1+deb9u2
  • vim-syntasticDebian:8all versions · fixed in 3.5.0-1+deb8u1

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2018-11319 Red Hat Product Security

    vim-syntastic: Improper handling of searches for configuration files can lead to arbitrary code execution

Full record on NVD

Fix

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

  • EUVD-2018-3357same flawENISA EUVD · LicenseRef-ENISA-legal-notice
  • GHSA-x97c-px3m-v4g2same flawGitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0
  • DLA-1444-1advisory covering several CVEsDebian · LicenseRef-unstated
  • DSA-4261-1advisory covering several CVEsDebian · LicenseRef-unstated

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2018-05-20
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-x97c-px3m-v4g2

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-11319?

Syntastic (aka vim-syntastic) through 3.9.0 does not properly handle searches for configuration files (it searches the current directory up to potentially the root). This improper handling might be exploited for arbitrary code execution via a malicious gcc plugin, if an attacker has write access to a directory that is a parent of the base directory of the project being checked. NOTE: exploitation is more difficult after 3.8.0 because filename prediction may be needed.

Is CVE-2018-11319 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2018-11319 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 2.8% on 2026-11-08, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-11319?

CVE-2018-11319 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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