An issue in `git-shell` could allow remote users to run an interactive pager. From the [update announcement](https://public-inbox.org/git/xmqq8tm5ziat.fsf@gitster.mt v.corp.google.com/) :

... fix a recently disclosed problem with 'git shell', which may allow a user who comes over SSH to run an interactive pager by causing it to spawn 'git upload-pack --help' (CVE-2017-8386).

The announcement also notes :

If you are not running a server, or if your server has not been explicitly configured to use git-shell as a login shell, you are not affected. Also note that sites running 'git shell' behind gitolite are NOT vulnerable. 

Further details can be found in the commit message which fixed the issue ([3ec804490](https://github.com/git/git/commit/3ec804490)).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

According to the versions of the git package installed, the EulerOS Virtualization installation on the remote host is affected by the following vulnerabilities :

  - A flaw was found in the way git-shell handled     command-line options for the restricted set of     git-shell commands. A remote, authenticated attacker     could use this flaw to bypass git-shell restrictions,     to view and manipulate files, by abusing the instance     of the less command launched using crafted command-line     options.(CVE-2017-8386)

  - In Git before 2.13.7, 2.14.x before 2.14.4, 2.15.x     before 2.15.2, 2.16.x before 2.16.4, and 2.17.x before     2.17.1, remote code execution can occur. With a crafted     .gitmodules file, a malicious project can execute an     arbitrary script on a machine that runs 'git clone
    --recurse-submodules' because submodule 'names' are     obtained from this file, and then appended to     $GIT_DIR/modules, leading to directory traversal with     '../' in a name. Finally, post-checkout hooks from a     submodule are executed, bypassing the intended design     in which hooks are not obtained from a remote     server.(CVE-2018-11235)

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the EulerOS security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

An update for git is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Moderate. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

Git is a distributed revision control system with a decentralized architecture. As opposed to centralized version control systems with a client-server model, Git ensures that each working copy of a Git repository is an exact copy with complete revision history. This not only allows the user to work on and contribute to projects without the need to have permission to push the changes to their official repositories, but also makes it possible for the user to work with no network connection.

Security Fix(es) :

* It was found that the git-prompt.sh script shipped with git failed to correctly handle branch names containing special characters. A specially crafted git repository could use this flaw to execute arbitrary commands if a user working with the repository configured their shell to include repository information in the prompt.
(CVE-2014-9938)

* A flaw was found in the way git-shell handled command-line options for the restricted set of git-shell commands. A remote, authenticated attacker could use this flaw to bypass git-shell restrictions, to view and manipulate files, by abusing the instance of the less command launched using crafted command-line options. (CVE-2017-8386)

Additional Changes :

For detailed information on changes in this release, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Release Notes linked from the References section.

According to the versions of the git package installed, the EulerOS installation on the remote host is affected by the following vulnerabilities :

  - It was found that the git-prompt.sh script shipped with     git failed to correctly handle branch names containing     special characters. A specially crafted git repository     could use this flaw to execute arbitrary commands if a     user working with the repository configured their shell     to include repository information in the prompt.
    (CVE-2014-9938)

  - A flaw was found in the way git-shell handled     command-line options for the restricted set of     git-shell commands. A remote, authenticated attacker     could use this flaw to bypass git-shell restrictions,     to view and manipulate files, by abusing the instance     of the less command launched using crafted command-line     options. (CVE-2017-8386)

  - A shell command injection flaw related to the handling     of ''ssh'' URLs has been discovered in Git. An attacker     could use this flaw to execute shell commands with the     privileges of the user running the Git client, for     example, when performing a ''clone'' action on a     malicious repository or a legitimate repository     containing a malicious commit. (CVE-2017-1000117)

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the EulerOS security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - git-shell in git before 2.4.12, 2.5.x before 2.5.6, 2.6.x before 2.6.7, 2.7.x before 2.7.5, 2.8.x before     2.8.5, 2.9.x before 2.9.4, 2.10.x before 2.10.3, 2.11.x before 2.11.2, and 2.12.x before 2.12.3 might     allow remote authenticated users to gain privileges via a repository name that starts with a - (dash)     character. (CVE-2017-8386)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

This update for git fixes the following issues :

  - git 2.12.3 :

  - CVE-2017-8386: Fix git-shell not to escape with the     starting dash name (bsc#1038395)

  - Fix for potential segv introduced in v2.11.0 and later

  - Misc fixes and cleanups.

  - git 2.12.2 :

  - CLI output fixes

  - 'Dump http' transport fixes

  - various fixes for internal code paths 

  - Trailer 'Cc:' RFC fix

  - git 2.12.1 :

  - Reduce authentication round-trip over HTTP when the     server supports just a single authentication method.

  - 'git add -i' patch subcommand fixed to have a path     selection

  - various path verification fixes

  - fix 'git log -L...' buffer overrun

This update was imported from the SUSE:SLE-12:Update update project.

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201706-04 (Git: Security bypass)

    Timo Schmid discovered that the Git restricted shell incorrectly       filtered allowed commands.
  Impact :

    A remote attacker could possibly bypass security restrictions and access       sensitive information.
  Workaround :

    There is no known workaround at this time.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 6 / 7 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the RHSA-2017:2491 advisory.

    Git is a distributed revision control system with a decentralized architecture. As opposed to centralized     version control systems with a client-server model, Git ensures that each working copy of a Git repository     is an exact copy with complete revision history. This not only allows the user to work on and contribute     to projects without the need to have permission to push the changes to their official repositories, but     also makes it possible for the user to work with no network connection.

    Security Fix(es):

    * A shell command injection flaw related to the handling of ssh URLs has been discovered in Git. An     attacker could use this flaw to execute shell commands with the privileges of the user running the Git     client, for example, when performing a clone action on a malicious repository or a legitimate repository     containing a malicious commit. (CVE-2017-1000117)

    * A flaw was found in the way git-shell handled command-line options for the restricted set of git-shell     commands. A remote, authenticated attacker could use this flaw to bypass git-shell restrictions, to view     and manipulate files, by abusing the instance of the less command launched using crafted command-line     options. (CVE-2017-8386)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

An update of the git package has been released.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Published	Updated	Severity
100485	Fedora 24 : git (2017-01a7989fc0)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	5/30/2017	1/11/2021	high
119068	EulerOS Virtualization 2.5.1 : git (EulerOS-SA-2018-1377)	Nessus	Huawei Local Security Checks	11/21/2018	5/26/2022	high
102749	CentOS 7 : git (CESA-2017:2004)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	8/25/2017	1/4/2021	high
103026	EulerOS 2.0 SP2 : git (EulerOS-SA-2017-1188)	Nessus	Huawei Local Security Checks	9/8/2017	1/6/2021	high
135580	SUSE SLES12 Security Update : git (SUSE-SU-2020:0992-1)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	4/15/2020	5/13/2022	critical
221316	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2017-8386	Nessus	Misc.	3/4/2025	8/20/2025	high
100500	openSUSE Security Update : git (openSUSE-2017-624)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	5/30/2017	1/19/2021	high
100647	GLSA-201706-04 : Git: Security bypass	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	6/7/2017	1/11/2021	high
210316	RHEL 6 / 7 : rh-git29-git (RHSA-2017:2491)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	11/5/2024	4/29/2025	high
252274	Photon OS 5.0: Git PHSA-2025-5.0-0590	Nessus	PhotonOS Local Security Checks	8/19/2025	8/23/2025	critical

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