CVE-2023-23946 | Git's `git apply` overwriting paths outside the working tree

Git, a revision control system, is vulnerable to path traversal prior to versions 2.39.2, 2.38.4, 2.37.6, 2.36.5, 2.35.7, 2.34.7, 2.33.7, 2.32.6, 2.31.7, and 2.30.8. By feeding a crafted input to `git apply`, a path outside the working tree can be overwritten as the user who is running `git apply`. A fix has been prepared and will appear in v2.39.2, v2.38.4, v2.37.6, v2.36.5, v2.35.7, v2.34.7, v2.33.7, v2.32.6, v2.31.7, and v2.30.8. As a workaround, use `git apply --stat` to inspect a patch before applying; avoid applying one that creates a symbolic link and then creates a file beyond the symbolic link.

Published: 2023-02-14 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-23946 is rated Moderate Risk (53.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.62%). 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-2023-23946

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 2026-06-01 1.46% 1.62% +0.17%
2 2026-04-19 1.67% 1.46% -0.22%
3 2026-04-06 — 1.67% —

Full EPSS history (25 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-23946

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.2 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.5 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-23946

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-23946

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-23946: 1 source package rows (git); 63 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 7, open 56. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-23946
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-23946 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-2023-23946
gentoo high CVE-2023-23946: 1 GLSA(s) (202312-15), 1 atom(s) (dev-vcs/git); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-23946
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-23946
suse medium CVE-2023-23946 severity moderate: SUSE including 144 source package names (1.18-19.31:git-core-2.35.3-150300.10.24.1, 1.20-openssl:git-core-2.35.3-150300.10.24.1, …), 433 product×package rows across 57 product lines (Container bci/golang, Container bci/nodejs, … (57 product lines)): Fixed 433. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-23946/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-23946 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (git), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23946

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-23946

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
git-scm git < 2.30.8 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.31.0, < 2.31.7 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.32.0, < 2.32.6 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.33.0, < 2.33.7 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.34.0, < 2.34.7 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.35.0, < 2.35.7 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.36.0, < 2.36.5 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.37.0, < 2.37.6 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.38.0, < 2.38.4 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
git-scm git >= 2.39.0, < 2.39.2 cpe:2.3:a:git-scm:git:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-23946

cvelogic Threat Intelligence