CVE-2025-3509: Pre-Receive Hook Remote Code Execution vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowing Privilege Escalation

Severity: high (CVSS 7.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-04-17 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-94

Description

A Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting the pre-receive hook functionality, potentially leading to privilege escalation and system compromise. The vulnerability involves using dynamically allocated ports that become temporarily available, such as during a hot patch upgrade. This means the vulnerability is only exploitable during specific operational conditions, which limits the attack window. Exploitation required either site administrator permissions to enable and configure pre-receive hooks or a user with permissions to modify repositories containing pre-receive hooks where this functionality was already enabled. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.18 and was fixed in versions 3.17.1, 3.16.4, 3.15.8, 3.14.13, 3.13.16. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.

Affected products

GitHub Enterprise Server: before 3.13.16; from 3.14.0 before 3.14.13; from 3.15.0 before 3.15.8; from 3.16.0 before 3.16.4; from 3.17.0 before 3.17.1 — fixed in 3.13.16, 3.14.13, 3.15.8, 3.16.4, 3.17.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GitHub Enterprise Server 3.13.16, 3.14.13, 3.15.8, 3.16.4. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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