CVE-2020-11008

Malicious URLs can still cause Git to send a stored credential to the wrong server

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: April 21, 2020 at 06:40 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 02:48 AM UTC
5 products affected across 5 vendorsDebian LinuxFedoraUbuntu Linux

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 4%

Description

Affected versions of Git have a vulnerability whereby Git can be tricked into sending private credentials to a host controlled by an attacker. This bug is similar to CVE-2020-5260(GHSA-qm7j-c969-7j4q). The fix for that bug still left the door open for an exploit where _some_ credential is leaked (but the attacker cannot control which one). Git uses external "credential helper" programs to store and retrieve passwords or other credentials from secure storage provided by the operating system. Specially-crafted URLs that are considered illegal as of the recently published Git versions can cause Git to send a "blank" pattern to helpers, missing hostname and protocol fields. Many helpers will interpret this as matching _any_ URL, and will return some unspecified stored password, leaking the password to an attacker's server. The vulnerability can be triggered by feeding a malicious URL to `git clone`. However, the affected URLs look rather suspicious; the likely vector would be through systems which automatically clone URLs not visible to the user, such as Git submodules, or package systems built around Git. The root of the problem is in Git itself, which should not be feeding blank input to helpers. However, the ability to exploit the vulnerability in practice depends on which helpers are in use. Credential helpers which are known to trigger the vulnerability: - Git's "store" helper - Git's "cache" helper - the "osxkeychain" helper that ships in Git's "contrib" directory Credential helpers which are known to be safe even with vulnerable versions of Git: - Git Credential Manager for Windows Any helper not in this list should be assumed to trigger the vulnerability.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 2.17.52.18.0 ≤ v < 2.18.42.19.0 ≤ v < 2.19.52.20.0 ≤ v < 2.20.42.21.0 ≤ v < 2.21.32.22.0 ≤ v < 2.22.42.23.0 ≤ v < 2.23.32.24.0 ≤ v < 2.24.32.25.0 ≤ v < 2.25.42.26.0 ≤ v < 2.26.2
Affected range stops below 2.17.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.18.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.19.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.20.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.21.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.22.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.23.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.24.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.25.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.26.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Git· Gitrubygems
60%
v < 2.17.5v < 2.18.4v < 2.20.4v < 2.21.3v < 2.22.4v < 2.23.3v < 2.24.3v < 2.25.4v < 2.26.2>= 2.19.0, 2.19.5
Affected range stops below 2.17.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.18.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.20.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.21.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.22.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.23.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.24.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.25.4, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.26.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
NONE
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-20CWE-522

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