CVE-2023-40590

HIGH EPSS 36.9%
Published Aug 28, 20232y ago · Modified Jun 17, 20262w ago
7.8 CVSS 3.1
High
Find Similar
Published Aug 28, 2023 2y ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 2w ago

Description

GitPython is a python library used to interact with Git repositories. When resolving a program, Python/Windows look for the current working directory, and after that the PATH environment. GitPython defaults to use the `git` command, if a user runs GitPython from a repo has a `git.exe` or `git` executable, that program will be run instead of the one in the user's `PATH`. This is more of a problem on how Python interacts with Windows systems, Linux and any other OS aren't affected by this. But probably people using GitPython usually run it from the CWD of a repo. An attacker can trick a user to download a repository with a malicious `git` executable, if the user runs/imports GitPython from that directory, it allows the attacker to run any arbitrary commands. There is no fix currently available for windows users, however there are a few mitigations. 1: Default to an absolute path for the git program on Windows, like `C:\\Program Files\\Git\\cmd\\git.EXE` (default git path installation). 2: Require users to set the `GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE` environment variable on Windows systems. 3: Make this problem prominent in the documentation and advise users to never run GitPython from an untrusted repo, or set the `GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE` env var to an absolute path. 4: Resolve the executable manually by only looking into the `PATH` environment variable.

CVSS Details

Base Score
7.8
Exploitability
1.8
Impact
5.9
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
User Interaction Required
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality High
Integrity High
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
36.9% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
Public Exploit Known
No Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-426

Affected Products 1

VendorProductVersionRange
gitpython_projectgitpython* ≤3.1.32

References 2

  • docs.python.org https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html#popen-constructor
    Product
  • github.com https://github.com/gitpython-developers/GitPython/security/advisories/GHSA-wfm5-v35h-vwf4
    ExploitMitigationVendor Advisory

Remediation

No remediation data recorded yet

Check vendor advisories and the NVD entry for patch availability.