CVE-2023-40590 Untrusted search path on Windows systems leading to arbitrary code execution

What is CVE-2023-40590?

CVE-2023-40590 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in gitpython-developers GitPython, published on 28 Aug 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

GitPython is a python library used to interact with Git repositories. When resolving a program, Python/Windows look for the current working directory, and after that the PATH environment. GitPython defaults to use the `git` command, if a user runs GitPython from a repo has a `git.exe` or `git` executable, that program will be run instead of the one in the user's `PATH`. This is more of a problem on how Python interacts with Windows systems, Linux and any other OS aren't affected by this. But probably people using GitPython usually run it from the CWD of a repo. An attacker can trick a user to download a repository with a malicious `git` executable, if the user runs/imports GitPython from that directory, it allows the attacker to run any arbitrary commands. There is no fix currently available for windows users, however there are a few mitigations. 1: Default to an absolute path for the git program on Windows, like `C:\\Program Files\\Git\\cmd\\git.EXE` (default git path installation). 2: Require users to set the `GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE` environment variable on Windows systems. 3: Make this problem prominent in the documentation and advise users to never run GitPython from an untrusted repo, or set the `GIT_PYTHON_GIT_EXECUTABLE` env var to an absolute path. 4: Resolve the executable manually by only looking into the `PATH` environment variable.

Weakness: CWE-426

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-40590?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including gitpython and GitPython. It affects 1 product.

Products include Gitpython Project Gitpython.

How do I fix CVE-2023-40590?

Upgrade gitpython to 3.1.33 or later.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2023-40590 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-40590 exists.

Other vulnerabilities in gitpython-developers GitPython

• CVE-2023-40267 GitPython vulnerable to remote code execution due to insufficient sanitization of input arguments Critical 9.8
• CVE-2026-78676 GitPython before 3.1.59 Remote Code Execution via Config Injection Critical 9.3
• CVE-2026-67324 GitPython 3.1.50 Authentication Bypass via Joined Short Options Critical 9.3
• CVE-2026-42215 GitPython: Command injection via Git options bypass High 8.8
• CVE-2026-87817 GitPython before 3.1.60 Remote Code Execution via Git Directory Impersonation High 8.7

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-wfm5-v35h-vwf4, PYSEC-2023-161, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-40590.