CVE-2020-11008 | Malicious URLs can still cause Git to send a stored credential to the wrong server

Affected versions of Git have a vulnerability whereby Git can be tricked into sending private credentials to a host controlled by an attacker. This bug is similar to CVE-2020-5260(GHSA-qm7j-c969-7j4q). The fix for that bug still left the door open for an exploit where _some_ credential is leaked (but the attacker cannot control which one). Git uses external "credential helper" programs to store and retrieve passwords or other credentials from secure storage provided by the operating system. Specially-crafted URLs that are considered illegal as of the recently published Git versions can cause Git to send a "blank" pattern to helpers, missing hostname and protocol fields. Many helpers will interpret this as matching _any_ URL, and will return some unspecified stored password, leaking the password to an attacker's server. The vulnerability can be triggered by feeding a malicious URL to `git clone`. However, the affected URLs look rather suspicious; the likely vector would be through systems which automatically clone URLs not visible to the user, such as Git submodules, or package systems built around Git. The root of the problem is in Git itself, which should not be feeding blank input to helpers. However, the ability to exploit the vulnerability in practice depends on which helpers are in use. Credential helpers which are known to trigger the vulnerability: - Git's "store" helper - Git's "cache" helper - the "osxkeychain" helper that ships in Git's "contrib" directory Credential helpers which are known to be safe even with vulnerable versions of Git: - Git Credential Manager for Windows Any helper not in this list should be assumed to trigger the vulnerability.

Published: 2020-04-21 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-11008 is rated Moderate Risk (47/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.89%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-11008

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 2026-05-28 2.22% 2.89% +0.67%
2 2026-05-14 2.28% 2.22% -0.06%
3 2026-05-01 2.28%

Full EPSS history (25 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-11008

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.2 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-11008

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-11008

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2020-11008: 1 source package rows (git); 35 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 25. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2020-11008
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-11008 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-2020-11008
gentoo low CVE-2020-11008: 1 GLSA(s) (202004-13), 1 atom(s) (dev-vcs/git); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2020-11008
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-11008
suse medium CVE-2020-11008 severity moderate: SUSE including 152 source package names (emacs-git-1.8.3.1-23.el7_8, emacs-git-el-1.8.3.1-23.el7_8, …), 222 product×package rows across 47 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE Enterprise Storage 5, … (47 product lines)): Fixed 222. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-11008/
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-11008 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (git), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, eoan, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 3, DNE 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-11008

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-11008

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
git-scm git < 2.17.5 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.18.0, < 2.18.4 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.19.0, < 2.19.5 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.20.0, < 2.20.4 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.21.0, < 2.21.3 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.22.0, < 2.22.4 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.23.0, < 2.23.3 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.24.0, < 2.24.3 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.25.0, < 2.25.4 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.26.0, < 2.26.2 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 19.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:19.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 31 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:31:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-11008

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-05/msg00003.html
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/May/41
https://github.com/git/git/commit/c44088ecc4b0722636e0a305f9608d3047197282 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/git/git/security/advisories/GHSA-hjc9-x69f-jqj7 Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/git/git/security/advisories/GHSA-qm7j-c969-7j4q Mitigation Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/04/msg00015.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/74Q7WVJ6FKLIN62VS2JD2XCNWK5TNKOW/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MOCTR2SEHCPSCOVUQJAGFPGKFMI2VE6V/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PN3FUOXKX3AXTULYV53ACABER2W2FSOU/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202004-13 Third Party Advisory
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211183
https://usn.ubuntu.com/4334-1/ Third Party Advisory
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