Is CVE-2023-25815 being actively exploited?

It is not currently in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploitation probability is 1%.

What products does CVE-2023-25815 affect?

Tracked products affected include Fedora. Check the version you run to see whether it is affected.

How do I fix CVE-2023-25815?

Apply the vendor fix in your normal patch cycle. An official patch or advisory is available. Upgrade affected products to a fixed version.

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CVE-2023-25815

Q: What is CVE-2023-25815?

CVE-2023-25815 is a low-severity software vulnerability (Path traversal) with a CVSS score of 3.3. 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-pa

LOW severity · CVSS 3.3 · Path traversal

3.3CVSS LOW

Summary

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:\`.

Impact & exploitability

Attack vectorLocal

Attack complexityHigh

Privileges requiredLow

User interactionRequired

Confidentiality impactNone

Integrity impactLow

Availability impactLow

Exploit probability (EPSS)1%

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

Affected products we track (1)

Fedora

Recommendation

Apply the vendor fix in your normal patch cycle. Open any affected product above for its exact safe version.

Official patch: https://github.com/msys2/MINGW-packages/pull/10461 ↗

CVE-2023-25815

Summary

Impact & exploitability

Affected products we track (1)

Recommendation

Additional information