Git: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code — GLSA 200809-16

Multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities have been discovered in Git.

Affected packages

dev-util/git on all architectures
Affected versions < 1.5.6.4
Unaffected versions >= 1.5.6.4

Background

Git is a distributed version control system.

Description

Multiple boundary errors in the functions diff_addremove() and diff_change() when processing overly long repository path names were reported.

Impact

A remote attacker could entice a user to run commands like "git-diff" or "git-grep" on a specially crafted repository, possibly resulting in the remote execution of arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the application.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Git users should upgrade to the latest version:

 # emerge --sync
 # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=dev-util/git-1.5.6.4"

References

Release date
September 25, 2008

Latest revision
September 25, 2008: 01

Severity
normal

Exploitable
remote

Bugzilla entries