CVE-2022-41903: Integer overflow in `git archive`, `git log --format` leading to RCE in git

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 44.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-01-17 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-190

Description

Git is distributed revision control system. `git log` can display commits in an arbitrary format using its `--format` specifiers. This functionality is also exposed to `git archive` via the `export-subst` gitattribute. When processing the padding operators, there is a integer overflow in `pretty.c::format_and_pad_commit()` where a `size_t` is stored improperly as an `int`, and then added as an offset to a `memcpy()`. This overflow can be triggered directly by a user running a command which invokes the commit formatting machinery (e.g., `git log --format=...`). It may also be triggered indirectly through git archive via the export-subst mechanism, which expands format specifiers inside of files within the repository during a git archive. This integer overflow can result in arbitrary heap writes, which may result in arbitrary 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. Users who are unable to upgrade should disable `git archive` in untrusted repositories. If you expose git archive via `git daemon`, disable it by running `git config --global daemon.uploadArch false`.

Affected products

git: through 2.30.6; from 2.31.0 through 2.31.5; from 2.32.0 through 2.32.4; from 2.33.0 through 2.33.5; from 2.34.0 through 2.34.5; from 2.35.0 through 2.35.5

References

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