# CVE-2023-25815: Git looks for localized messages in the wrong place

> Low-privilege users can inject fake localized messages into Git for Windows, potentially tricking users into visiting malicious sites via social engineering.

- **Severity:** Low 3.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 4 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-25815, CLEANSTART-2026-EP87015, CLSA-2023-1688673526, CLSA-2023-1688675103, CLSA-2024-1731599555, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-25815, GHSA-9w66-8mq8-5vm8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-25815

## What is CVE-2023-25815?

CVE-2023-25815 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 25 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Git for Windows, the Windows port of Git, no localized messages are shipped with the installer. As a consequence, Git is expected not to localize messages at all, and skips the gettext initialization. However, due to a change in MINGW-packages, the `gettext()` function's implicit initialization no longer uses the runtime prefix but uses the hard-coded path `C:\mingw64\share\locale` to look for localized messages. And since any authenticated user has the permission to create folders in `C:\` (and since `C:\mingw64` does not typically exist), it is possible for low-privilege users to place fake messages in that location where `git.exe` will pick them up in version 2.40.1.

This vulnerability is relatively hard to exploit and requires social engineering. For example, a legitimate message at the end of a clone could be maliciously modified to ask the user to direct their web browser to a malicious website, and the user might think that the message comes from Git and is legitimate. It does require local write access by the attacker, though, which makes this attack vector less likely. Version 2.40.1 contains a patch for this issue. Some workarounds are available. Do not work on a Windows machine with shared accounts, or alternatively create a `C:\mingw64` folder and leave it empty. Users who have administrative rights may remove the permission to create folders in `C:\`.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory), CWE-134 (Use of Externally-Controlled Format String)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-25815?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Git for Windows Project Git for Windows.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-25815?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-25815 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25815 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-25815 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-25815 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 25 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-25815 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25815/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25815/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-25815
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-25815
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-25815

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-25815/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.