What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2022-24765: Uncontrolled search for the Git directory in Git for Windows
- Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2022-04-12 · updated 2026-06-17
- Weakness: CWE-427
Description
Git for Windows is a fork of Git containing Windows-specific patches. This vulnerability affects users working on multi-user machines, where untrusted parties have write access to the same hard disk. Those untrusted parties could create the folder `C:\.git`, which would be picked up by Git operations run supposedly outside a repository while searching for a Git directory. Git would then respect any config in said Git directory. Git Bash users who set `GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE` are vulnerable as well. Users who installed posh-gitare vulnerable simply by starting a PowerShell. Users of IDEs such as Visual Studio are vulnerable: simply creating a new project would already read and respect the config specified in `C:\.git\config`. Users of the Microsoft fork of Git are vulnerable simply by starting a Git Bash. The problem has been patched in Git for Windows v2.35.2. Users unable to upgrade may create the folder `.git` on all drives where Git commands are run, and remove read/write access from those folders as a workaround. Alternatively, define or extend `GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES` to cover the _parent_ directory of the user profile, e.g. `C:\Users` if the user profile is located in `C:\Users\my-user-name`.
Affected products
- Apple Xcode: before 13.4 — fixed in 13.4
- Debian Linux: 10.0
- Fedoraproject Fedora: 34, 35, 36, 37
- git: before 2.35.2 — fixed in 2.35.2
How to fix
Upgrade to a fixed version: Apple Xcode 13.4; git 2.35.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.
References
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/31
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/04/12/7
- https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Appendix-A%3A-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Bash
- https://git-scm.com/docs/git#Documentation/git.txt-codeGITCEILINGDIRECTORIEScode
- https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/security/advisories/GHSA-vw2c-22j4-2fh2
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/12/msg00025.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5PTN5NYEHYN2OQSHSAMCNICZNK2U4QH6/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BENQYTDGUL6TF3UALY6GSIEXIHUIYNWM/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DDI325LOO2XBDDKLINOAQJEG6MHAURZE/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DIKWISWUDFT2FAITYIA6372BVLH3OOOC/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HVOLER2PIGMHPQMDGG4RDE2KZB74QLA2/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SLP42KIZ6HACTVZMZLJLFJQ4W2XYT27M/
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