Incorrect Authorization via Stale ProjectCache Eviction and Repeated .git Suffixes in Gerrit Code Review

Summary

Incorrect Authorization (CWE-863) in project name normalization (ProjectUtil.stripGitSuffix) and ProjectCache eviction logic (ProjectCacheImpl) in Gerrit Code Review versions 2.16.0 through 3.12.9, 3.13.0 through 3.13.8, and 3.14.0 through 3.14.2 allows an authenticated user (or an unauthenticated user if the repository was previously public) to cause unauthorized disclosure of private repository content and durable restoration of revoked project-owner administrative privileges via crafted requests using repeated .git suffixes (such as project.git.git) across REST APIs, Gitiles, or SSH Git commands. Because Gerrit strips only a single terminal .git suffix when constructing the logical ProjectCache key while JGit (FileKey.lenient) resolves the suffixed alias to the same canonical bare repository on disk, revoking read access or removing owner rules on the canonical project name fails to evict the cached alias ProjectState during the cache validity window, enabling reads of newly created private commits or writes to refs/meta/config. This issue is fixed in Gerrit Code Review versions 3.12.10, 3.13.9, and 3.14.3.

Timeline

1. Sep 24, 2026, 9:59 PM UTCCVE published
2. Sep 25, 2026, 4:51 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

3. Sep 25, 2026, 4:55 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• Gerrit Gerrit

  From 2.16.0 · fixed in 3.12.10; From 3.13.0 · fixed in 3.13.9; From 3.14.0 · fixed in 3.14.3

References 1