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GitApplication · Git Scm

CVE-2022-23521

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.38.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Git is distributed revision control system. gitattributes are a mechanism to allow defining attributes for paths. These attributes can be defined by adding a `.gitattributes` file to the repository, which contains a set of file patterns and the attributes that should be set for paths matching this pattern. When parsing gitattributes, multiple integer overflows can occur when there is a huge number of path patterns, a huge number of attributes for a single pattern, or when the declared attribute names are huge. These overflows can be triggered via a crafted `.gitattributes` file that may be part of the commit history. Git silently splits lines longer than 2KB when parsing gitattributes from a file, but not when parsing them from the index. Consequentially, the failure mode depends on whether the file exists in the working tree, the index or both. This integer overflow can result in arbitrary heap reads and writes, which may result in remote code execution. The problem has been patched in the versions published on 2023-01-17, going back to v2.30.7. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-190

An arithmetic operation produces a value too large for its type and wraps around to an unexpected — often tiny or negative — number. That miscalculated value then drives a memory allocation or a bounds check, opening the door to corruption. The fix is checked arithmetic and validating sizes before they're used.

General guidance for the integer overflow class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
GitApplication
Affected:<= 2.30.6>= 2.31.0, <= 2.31.5>= 2.32.0, <= 2.32.4>= 2.33.0, <= 2.33.5>= 2.34.0, <= 2.34.5>= 2.35.0, <= 2.35.5>= 2.36.0, <= 2.36.3>= 2.37.0, <= 2.37.4>= 2.38.0, <= 2.38.2= 2.39.0

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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.38.2
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Git v2.30.7 or later (v2.31.6, v2.32.5, v2.33.6, or latest stable v2.34+)

  1. Check current Git version with: git --version
  2. Update Git to a patched version using your package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install git, yum update git, brew upgrade git, or download from https://github.com/git/git/releases)
  3. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: git --version and confirming the version is >= 2.30.7, >= 2.31.6, >= 2.32.5, >= 2.33.6, or >= 2.34.1
Caveat Git minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; however, review release notes for any behavior changes in gitattributes handling

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-23521 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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