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CVE-2023-25815

Git looks for localized messages in the wrong place

publishedCWE-22CWE-134

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:\`.

Technical severity3.3 lowCVSS 3.1 · CNA: GitHub_M
Published2023-04-25Source updated 2026-11-02
Collected2026-11-033 attributed sources

Fixes and workarounds

Fix

The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches.

Source: [email protected]

Fix

The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches.

Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108

Affected products and versions

ProductVersionsAuthority
git
git-for-windows 		< 2.40.1 (affected) CNA: GitHub_M

Version ranges are source assertions. Check the vendor advisory and your installed configuration before determining exposure.

NVD applicability configurations (2)

These expressions retain AND/OR operators, negation, and required environmental products. A listed product is not sufficient to establish exposure when additional conditions apply.

[
  {
    "negate": false,
    "nodes": [
      {
        "cpeMatch": [
          {
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:git_for_windows_project:git_for_windows:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "versionEndExcluding": "2.40.1",
            "vulnerable": true
          }
        ],
        "negate": false,
        "operator": "OR"
      }
    ],
    "operator": "OR"
  },
  {
    "negate": false,
    "nodes": [
      {
        "cpeMatch": [
          {
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:37:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "vulnerable": true
          },
          {
            "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:38:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
            "vulnerable": true
          }
        ],
        "negate": false,
        "operator": "OR"
      }
    ],
    "operator": "OR"
  }
]

CVSS assessments

Version / scoreVectorAuthority
3.1 / 3.3
low		 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:LCNA: GitHub_M
3.1 / 2.2
low		 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NNVD: [email protected]
3.1 / 3.3
low		 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:LNVD: [email protected]

Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

References

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