CVE-2023-4759
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 · uneditedArbitrary File Overwrite in Eclipse JGit <= 6.6.0 In Eclipse JGit, all versions <= 6.6.0.202305301015-r, a symbolic link present in a specially crafted git repository can be used to write a file to locations outside the working tree when this repository is cloned with JGit to a case-insensitive filesystem, or when a checkout from a clone of such a repository is performed on a case-insensitive filesystem. This can happen on checkout (DirCacheCheckout), merge (ResolveMerger via its WorkingTreeUpdater), pull (PullCommand using merge), and when applying a patch (PatchApplier). This can be exploited for remote code execution (RCE), for instance if the file written outside the working tree is a git filter that gets executed on a subsequent git command. The issue occurs only on case-insensitive filesystems, like the default filesystems on Windows and macOS. The user performing the clone or checkout must have the rights to create symbolic links for the problem to occur, and symbolic links must be enabled in the git configuration. Setting git configuration option core.symlinks = false before checking out avoids the problem. The issue was fixed in Eclipse JGit version 6.6.1.202309021850-r and 6.7.0.202309050840-r, available via Maven Central https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/eclipse/jgit/ and repo.eclipse.org https://repo.eclipse.org/content/repositories/jgit-releases/ . A backport is available in 5.13.3 starting from 5.13.3.202401111512-r. The JGit maintainers would like to thank RyotaK for finding and reporting 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 analysisA file operation follows a symbolic link without checking where it actually points, so an attacker who can plant or swap a link redirects the operation to a file they should not be able to touch. It is a common local privilege-escalation primitive. Remediation is resolving and validating the real target path, and avoiding operations on attacker-controllable links.
General guidance for the link following (symlink) 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< 5.13.3.202401111512-r>= 6.6.0, < 6.6.0.202305301015>= 6.7.0, < 6.7.0.202309050840CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 · scoped5.13.3.202401111512-r6.6.0.2023053010156.7.0.202309050840
JGit 6.6.1.202309021850-r (or 6.7.0.202309050840-r, or 5.13.3.202401111512-r for backport)
- 1. Identify the current JGit version in use (check project dependencies or library version)
- 2. Upgrade JGit to version 6.6.1.202309021850-r or higher for the 6.x branch
- 3. Alternatively, upgrade to version 6.7.0.202309050840-r or higher for the 6.7.x branch
- 4. Alternatively, upgrade to version 5.13.3.202401111512-r or higher for the 5.x branch
- 5. Verify the upgrade by checking the JGit version after upgrade
- 6. As a workaround if immediate upgrade is not possible, set git configuration option core.symlinks=false before clone or checkout operations using: git config --global core.symlinks false
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-4759 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-4759 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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