The /etc/vimrc (6.3.013-2) appears to have a bug.  This section:
     if &term=="xterm"
          set t_Co=8
          set t_Sb=^[4%dm
          set t_Sf=^[3%dm
     endif
is wrong -- t_Sb and t_Sf begin with a literal circumflex followed by
a left square bracket, when the xterm control sequence for selecting
the color should instead begin with a literal escape followed by a
left square bracket.  Replacing the two circumflexes with an escape
character seems to fix it on my system.

This could be the cause of bug #115499.