CVE-2022-41903 : Security Advisory and Response

A critical vulnerability has been identified in Git, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) due to an integer overflow in

git archive

and

git log --format

functions.

Understanding CVE-2022-41903

This CVE highlights an integer overflow issue in Git that can be exploited to achieve RCE by malicious actors.

What is CVE-2022-41903?

Git, a distributed revision control system, is prone to an integer overflow vulnerability in certain functions, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code.

The Impact of CVE-2022-41903

The vulnerability poses a critical risk as it enables threat actors to trigger arbitrary heap writes, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-41903

The vulnerability stemmed from an integer overflow in

pretty.c::format_and_pad_commit()

, affecting Git versions prior to 2.30.7.

Vulnerability Description

The issue arises when processing padding operators, causing a size_t to be stored improperly as an int and leading to an overflow during a

memcpy()

operation, enabling attackers to exploit the commit formatting functionality.

Affected Systems and Versions

Multiple versions of Git, ranging from < 2.30.7 to = 2.39.0, are impacted by this vulnerability.

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability can be exploited directly via command execution invoking

git log --format=...

or indirectly through the

git archive

function, potentially allowing arbitrary code execution.

Mitigation and Prevention

To protect systems from CVE-2022-41903, immediate action is necessary.

Immediate Steps to Take

Users are strongly advised to upgrade to patched versions released after 2023-01-17. For those unable to upgrade, disabling

git archive

in untrusted repositories is recommended.

Long-Term Security Practices

Maintaining up-to-date software versions, closely monitoring Git configurations, and implementing access controls can enhance security postures.

Patching and Updates

Regularly applying security patches and following vendor recommendations are essential to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.