CVE-2018-17456

Exp

Git before 2.14.5, 2.15.x before 2.15.3, 2.16.x before 2.16.5, 2.17.x before 2.17.2, 2.18.x before 2.18.1, and 2.19.x before 2.19.1 allows remote code execution during processing of a recursive "git clone" of a superproject if a .gitmodules file has a URL field beginning with a '-' character.

Published: 2018-10-06 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-17456 is rated High Exploit Risk (85.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 59.23%, 98th percentile). 4 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-2018-17456

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
45631 exploit_db edb 2018-10-16 Exploit-DB ↗
45548 exploit_db edb 2018-10-05 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-17456

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 2026-05-17 62.58% 59.23% -3.35%
2 2026-05-13 65.32% 62.58% -2.74%
3 2026-04-22 — 65.32% —

Full EPSS history (67 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-17456

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-17456

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-17456

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2018-17456: 1 source package rows (git); 20 state rows across 10 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 10, open 10. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-17456
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-17456 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (git), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-17456
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-17456
suse high CVE-2018-17456 severity important: SUSE including 202 source package names (emacs-git-1.8.3.1-20.el7, emacs-git-el-1.8.3.1-20.el7, …), 302 product×package rows across 60 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 3.0, … (60 product lines)): Fixed 300, Known Not Affected 2. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-17456/
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-17456 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (git), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bionic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-17456

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-17456

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
git-scm git >= 2.14.0, < 2.14.5 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.15.0, < 2.15.3 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.16.0, < 2.16.5 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.17.0, < 2.17.2 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.18.0, < 2.18.1 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.19.0, < 2.19.1 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat ansible_tower 3.3 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:ansible_tower:3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 6.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 6.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.3 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.4 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.5 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus 7.6 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus:7.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 14.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-17456

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-05/msg00003.html
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152173/Sourcetree-Git-Arbitrary-Code-Execution-URL-Handling.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105523 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/107511 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041811 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3408 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3505 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:3541 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0316
https://github.com/git/git/commit/1a7fd1fb2998002da6e9ff2ee46e1bdd25ee8404 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/git/git/commit/a124133e1e6ab5c7a9fef6d0e6bcb084e3455b46 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://marc.info/?l=git&m=153875888916397&w=2 Third Party Advisory
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2019/Mar/30 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3791-1/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4311 Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45548/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45631/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2018/10/06/3 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence