CVE-2015-8968

Exp

git-fastclone before 1.0.1 permits arbitrary shell command execution from .gitmodules. If an attacker can instruct a user to run a recursive clone from a repository they control, they can get a client to run an arbitrary shell command. Alternately, if an attacker can MITM an unencrypted git clone, they could exploit this. The ext command will be run if the repository is recursively cloned or if submodules are updated. This attack works when cloning both local and remote repositories.

Published: 2016-11-03 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2015-8968 is rated High Exploit Risk (80.2/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.84%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2015-8968

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2015-8968

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-04 2.90% 2.84% -0.05%
2 2026-03-01 2.84% 2.90% +0.05%
3 2026-02-04 — 2.84% —

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-8968

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2015-8968

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2015-8968

GHSA-8gg6-3r63-25m8 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: rubygems — git-fastclone permits arbitrary shell command execution from .gitmodules

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-8968

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
squareup git-fastclone < 1.0.1 cpe:2.3:a:squareup:git-fastclone:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-8968

URL Tags
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/81433 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://github.com/square/git-fastclone/pull/2 Patch Vendor Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/104465 Exploit Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence