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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2018-11233

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.16.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Git before 2.13.7, 2.14.x before 2.14.4, 2.15.x before 2.15.2, 2.16.x before 2.16.4, and 2.17.x before 2.17.1, code to sanity-check pathnames on NTFS can result in reading out-of-bounds memory.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Out-of-bounds memory read vulnerability in Git's NTFS pathname sanity-checking code. A specially crafted NTFS pathname can cause Git to read memory outside intended bounds, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents to an attacker.

MitigationUpgrade Git to version 2.13.7, 2.14.4, 2.15.2, 2.16.4, 2.17.1 or later to patch the vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 14.04= 16.04= 17.10= 18.04
GitApplication
Affected:<= 2.13.6>= 2.14.0, <= 2.14.3>= 2.15.0, <= 2.15.1>= 2.16.0, <= 2.16.3= 2.17.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Git version
    Run `git --version` to determine the exact version of Git installed on the system
    Affected if The version falls within any of these vulnerable ranges: <= 2.13.6, >= 2.14.0 and <= 2.14.3, >= 2.15.0 and <= 2.15.1, >= 2.16.0 and <= 2.16.3, or equals 2.17.0
  2. Check for NTFS path handling
    Determine if the system or repository interacts with NTFS-formatted drives or paths. On Linux, check mounted filesystems with `mount | grep ntfs` or review any NTFS-3G configurations. On Windows, verify if repositories exist on NTFS volumes
    Affected if Git processes or checks out files from NTFS-formatted locations using a vulnerable Git version
  3. Verify Ubuntu distribution version
    If running Ubuntu, check the version with `lsb_release -r` or check `/etc/ubuntu_version`
    Affected if The system runs Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04, 17.10, or 18.04 with a vulnerable Git version installed from default repositories

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Git version (as identified in step 1) AND handles NTFS pathname inputs, which can occur on Windows NTFS volumes or when Git processes crafted NTFS pathnames.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.16.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Git to version 2.13.7, 2.14.4, 2.15.2, 2.16.4, 2.17.1 or later to patch the vulnerability.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-11233 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data