Git for Windows's config file of `connect.exe` is susceptible to malicious placing
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- Fix
- Fixed in 2.40.1
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: none
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: total
Summary
Git for Windows, the Windows port of Git, ships with an executable called `connect.exe`, which implements a SOCKS5 proxy that can be used to connect e.g. to SSH servers via proxies when certain ports are blocked for outgoing connections. The location of `connect.exe`'s config file is hard-coded as `/etc/connectrc` which will typically be interpreted as `C:\etc\connectrc`. Since `C:\etc` can be created by any authenticated user, this makes `connect.exe` susceptible to malicious files being placed there by other users on the same multi-user machine. The problem has been patched in Git for Windows v2.40.1. As a workaround, create the folder `etc` on all drives where Git commands are run, and remove read/write access from those folders. Alternatively, watch out for malicious `<drive>:\etc\connectrc` files on multi-user machines.
Timeline
- CVE published
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- git-for-windows git
fixed in 2.40.1