Affected versions of Git have a vulnerability whereby Git can be tricked into sending private credentials to a host controlled by an attacker. This bug is similar to CVE-2020-5260(GHSA-qm7j-c969-7j4q). The fix for that bug still left the door open for an exploit where _some_ credential is leaked (but the attacker cannot control which one). Git uses external "credential helper" programs to store and retrieve passwords or other credentials from secure storage provided by the operating system. Specially-crafted URLs that are considered illegal as of the recently published Git versions can cause Git to send a "blank" pattern to helpers, missing hostname and protocol fields. Many helpers will interpret this as matching _any_ URL, and will return some unspecified stored password, leaking the password to an attacker's server. The vulnerability can be triggered by feeding a malicious URL to `git clone`. However, the affected URLs look rather suspicious; the likely vector would be through systems which automatically clone URLs not visible to the user, such as Git submodules, or package systems built around Git. The root of the problem is in Git itself, which should not be feeding blank input to helpers. However, the ability to exploit the vulnerability in practice depends on which helpers are in use. Credential helpers which are known to trigger the vulnerability: - Git's "store" helper - Git's "cache" helper - the "osxkeychain" helper that ships in Git's "contrib" directory Credential helpers which are known to be safe even with vulnerable versions of Git: - Git Credential Manager for Windows Any helper not in this list should be assumed to trigger the vulnerability.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.0, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts limited data confidentiality, for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from git-scm, from canonical, from debian and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2020-04-21T19:15:13.457
2024-11-21T04:56:34.263
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 4.0 (MEDIUM)
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
10.0
2.9
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.17.5 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.18.4 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.19.5 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.20.4 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.21.3 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.22.4 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.23.3 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.24.3 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.25.4 | Yes |
| Application | git-scm | git | < 2.26.2 | Yes |
| Operating System | canonical | ubuntu_linux | 16.04 | Yes |
| Operating System | canonical | ubuntu_linux | 18.04 | Yes |
| Operating System | canonical | ubuntu_linux | 19.10 | Yes |
| Operating System | debian | debian_linux | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | fedoraproject | fedora | 31 | Yes |
| Operating System | fedoraproject | fedora | 32 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For git-scm's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.