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The config file of `connect.exe` is susceptible to malicious placing

High
vdye published GHSA-g4fv-xjqw-q7jm Apr 25, 2023

Package

git-for-windows (-)

Affected versions

<2.40.1

Patched versions

2.40.1

Description

Impact

Git for Windows ships with an executable called connect.exe, which implements a SOCKS5 proxy that can be used to connect e.g. to SSH servers via proxies when certain ports are blocked for outgoing connections.

The location of connect.exe's config file is hard-coded as /etc/connectrc which will typically be interpreted as C:\etc\connectrc. Since C:\etc can be created by any authenticated user, this makes connect.exe susceptible to malicious files being placed there by other users on the same multi-user machine.

Patches

The problem has been patched in Git for Windows v2.40.1.

Workarounds

Create the folder etc on all drives where Git commands are run, and remove read/write access from those folders:

mkdir \etc
icacls \etc /inheritance:r

Alternatively, be very careful to watch out for malicious <drive>:\etc\connectrc files on multi-user machines.

References

Source code repository of the connect proxy: https://github.com/gotoh/ssh-connect

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE ID

CVE-2023-29011

Weaknesses

Uncontrolled Search Path Element

The product uses a fixed or controlled search path to find resources, but one or more locations in that path can be under the control of unintended actors. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits