CVE-2025-23040 Maliciously crafted remote URLs could lead to credential leak in GitHub Desktop
Attackers can exfiltrate user credentials by tricking them into cloning a repository with a maliciously crafted remote URL in GitHub Desktop.
- 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
- None listed
What is CVE-2025-23040?
CVE-2025-23040 is a medium-severity vulnerability in desktop, published on 15 Jan 2025. 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
GitHub Desktop is an open-source Electron-based GitHub app designed for git development. An attacker convincing a user to clone a repository directly or through a submodule can allow the attacker access to the user's credentials through the use of maliciously crafted remote URL. GitHub Desktop relies on Git to perform all network related operations (such as cloning, fetching, and pushing). When a user attempts to clone a repository GitHub Desktop will invoke `git clone` and when Git encounters a remote which requires authentication it will request the credentials for that remote host from GitHub Desktop using the git-credential protocol. Using a maliciously crafted URL it's possible to cause the credential request coming from Git to be misinterpreted by Github Desktop such that it will send credentials for a different host than the host that Git is currently communicating with thereby allowing for secret exfiltration. GitHub username and OAuth token, or credentials for other Git remote hosts stored in GitHub Desktop could be improperly transmitted to an unrelated host. Users should update to GitHub Desktop 3.4.12 or greater which fixes this vulnerability. Users who suspect they may be affected should revoke any relevant credentials.
Weakness: CWE-522
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-23040?
How do I fix CVE-2025-23040?
No fix has been published for CVE-2025-23040 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2025-23040 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-23040 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-36mm-rh9q-cpqq.