CVE-2022-23521 gitattributes parsing integer overflow in git

Critical 9.8 Published 17 Jan 2023 Updated 13 Feb 2025

Attackers can achieve remote code execution via integer overflows in Git's gitattributes parsing triggered by crafted repository files.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2022-23521?

CVE-2022-23521 is a critical vulnerability in git, published on 17 Jan 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Git is distributed revision control system. gitattributes are a mechanism to allow defining attributes for paths. These attributes can be defined by adding a `.gitattributes` file to the repository, which contains a set of file patterns and the attributes that should be set for paths matching this pattern. When parsing gitattributes, multiple integer overflows can occur when there is a huge number of path patterns, a huge number of attributes for a single pattern, or when the declared attribute names are huge. These overflows can be triggered via a crafted `.gitattributes` file that may be part of the commit history. Git silently splits lines longer than 2KB when parsing gitattributes from a file, but not when parsing them from the index. Consequentially, the failure mode depends on whether the file exists in the working tree, the index or both. This integer overflow can result in arbitrary heap reads and writes, which may result in remote 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. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Weakness: CWE-190

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-23521?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Git-Scm Git.

How do I fix CVE-2022-23521?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Is CVE-2022-23521 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-23521 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as ALPINE-CVE-2022-23521, AZL-13024, CLEANSTART-2026-GJ10075, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-23521, GHSA-c738-c5qq-xg89, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-23521.