CVE-2021-21300

Public Exploit
malicious repositories can execute remote code while cloning

Description

Git is an open-source distributed revision control system. In affected versions of Git a specially crafted repository that contains symbolic links as well as files using a clean/smudge filter such as Git LFS, may cause just-checked out script to be executed while cloning onto a case-insensitive file system such as NTFS, HFS+ or APFS (i.e. the default file systems on Windows and macOS). Note that clean/smudge filters have to be configured for that. Git for Windows configures Git LFS by default, and is therefore vulnerable. The problem has been patched in the versions published on Tuesday, March 9th, 2021. As a workaound, if symbolic link support is disabled in Git (e.g. via `git config --global core.symlinks false`), the described attack won't work. Likewise, if no clean/smudge filters such as Git LFS are configured globally (i.e. _before_ cloning), the attack is foiled. As always, it is best to avoid cloning repositories from untrusted sources. The earliest impacted version is 2.14.2. The fix versions are: 2.30.1, 2.29.3, 2.28.1, 2.27.1, 2.26.3, 2.25.5, 2.24.4, 2.23.4, 2.22.5, 2.21.4, 2.20.5, 2.19.6, 2.18.5, 2.17.62.17.6.

Category

8.0
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 75.02% Top 5%
Vendor Advisory fedoraproject.org Vendor Advisory fedoraproject.org Vendor Advisory fedoraproject.org Vendor Advisory gentoo.org Vendor Advisory git-scm.com Vendor Advisory git-scm.com
Affected: git git
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2021-21300?
CVE-2021-21300 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2021-21300?
To fix CVE-2021-21300, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2021-21300 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2021-21300 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~75% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2021-21300?
CVE-2021-21300 affects git git.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.