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What is CVE-2021-21300?A high-severity flaw in Git, explained.

High severity5 affected products
The short answer

CVE-2021-21300 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) in Git from Git-Scm, published on 9 March 2021. It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts its chance of use in the next 30 days at 89%. If you run an affected version, plan in the vendor’s fix.

Check if it affects you →How to fix it

Published 9 March 2021. Record last updated 7 November 2023. We keep this page's data up to date.

What it does

What is CVE-2021-21300? In plain terms.

It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, but a person has to take an action first. If it works, the attacker can read data, change data and take it offline.

The official description

Git is an open-source distributed revision control system. In affected versions of Git a specially crafted repository that contains symbolic links as well as files using a clean/smudge filter such as Git LFS, may cause just-checked out script to be executed while cloning onto a case-insensitive file system such as NTFS, HFS+ or APFS (i.e. the default file systems on Windows and macOS). Note that clean/smudge filters have to be configured for that. Git for Windows configures Git LFS by default, and is therefore vulnerable. The problem has been patched in the versions published on Tuesday, March 9th, 2021. As a workaound, if symbolic link support is disabled in Git (e.g. via `git config --global core.symlinks false`), the described attack won't work. Likewise, if no clean/smudge filters such as Git LFS are configured globally (i.e. _before_ cloning), the attack is foiled. As always, it is best to avoid cloning repositories from untrusted sources. The earliest impacted version is 2.14.2. The fix versions are: 2.30.1, 2.29.3, 2.28.1, 2.27.1, 2.26.3, 2.25.5, 2.24.4, 2.23.4, 2.22.5, 2.21.4, 2.20.5, 2.19.6, 2.18.5, 2.17.62.17.6.

What kind of flaw is it?

  • CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
CVSS 3.1 scoreHigh · 7.5

How an attack on it works

Read straight from its severity rating, translated out of the shorthand.

  • Where an attacker can beAnywhere on the internet
  • How hard it is to pull offHard: conditions must line up
  • Login needed firstNo login needed
  • Does someone have to clickYes, a person has to take an action
  • What an attacker getsCan read data, change data and take it offline

Severity vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation

Is CVE-2021-21300 being exploited? Not that we know of.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 89%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

Known to be exploitedNoNot on the list of exploited flaws today
Chance of use in the next 30 days89%Its EPSS score, from the latest forecast

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Record last updated
  3. Exploit likelihood fell
  4. Exploit likelihood jumped
How Precursor Intelligence ranks it
67out of 100Medium

CVE-2021-21300 scores 67. Action: Plan remediation.

We keep the score of every published flaw up to date as the evidence changes. Four things go into the score, and evidence that criminals are actually using it counts most. In order:

  • Evidence it is being exploitedBiggest factor
  • How severe it isStrong factor
  • How widely exposed it isSmaller factor
  • Threat activity around itSmaller factor

85 and above is Critical. Anything confirmed as exploited is always marked for an emergency patch, whatever its score.

When CVE-2021-21300 matches software you track, it lands in your list with its score and the reasons behind it.

See your own ranked list →
Affected products

Who is affected by CVE-2021-21300? 5 products.

The published record lists 5 products from 4 vendors. Versions are shown as published: "2.17.0 to before 2.17.6" means from 2.17.0 up to, but not including, 2.17.6. If you run one of these, check your version, then go to the fix below.

  • Application

    Git

    by Git-Scm

    Affected versions
    up to 2.14.22.17.0 to before 2.17.62.18.0 to before 2.18.52.19.0 to before 2.19.62.20.0 to before 2.20.52.21.0 to before 2.21.42.22.0 to before 2.22.52.23.0 to before 2.23.42.24.0 to before 2.24.42.25.0 to before 2.25.52.26.0 to before 2.26.32.27.02.28.02.29.0 to before 2.29.3
  • Operating system

    Fedora

    by Fedoraproject

    Affected versions
    323334
  • Operating system

    Debian Linux

    by Debian

    Affected versions
    10.0
  • Operating system

    macOS

    by Apple

    Affected versions
    11.0 and later
  • Application

    Xcode

    by Apple

    Affected versions
    before 12.5
Remediation

How do I fix CVE-2021-21300? Four steps.

  1. Check whether you run itCompare your versions with the affected products above. Not sure what you run? Precursor Intelligence can work it out from your public website, or you can pick it from a list.
  2. Apply the vendor’s fixInstall the update named in the vendor’s advisory. We’ve put the advisories and patch notes first in the list.
  3. If you can’t patch todayFollow any mitigation the vendor publishes, and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet until the update is in.
  4. Keep an eye on itTrack the product and we tell you as soon as we spot this flaw on the list of exploited flaws, or a jump in its exploit likelihood.

References

14 links
Precursor Intelligence

Does CVE-2021-21300 affect you? We'll keep checking.

Looking flaws up one at a time doesn't scale. Tell us what you run once, and we tell you which flaws matter to you, in what order, and keep watching for new ones.

  1. Tell us what you runPick your software from a list, or let us work it out from your website.
  2. We match it to every flawOver 400,000 published flaws, checked against your list.
  3. Ranked by real-world riskA 0 to 100 score, led by evidence criminals are using it.
  4. Told as soon as we knowAn alert by email, in the app or by webhook to your own tools.
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CVE-2021-21300 is a high-severity flaw in Git from Git-Scm, published on 9 March 2021. It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, but a person has to take an action first. If it works, the attacker can read data, change data and take it offline.

It scores 7.5 out of 10 on the CVSS severity scale, which is high. Our risk score for CVE-2021-21300 is 67 out of 100, which is Medium. Its action is "Plan remediation". Not confirmed as exploited yet, but serious or likely enough that it should not wait for a quiet month.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 89%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

For Git from Git-Scm: up to 2.14.2, 2.17.0 to before 2.17.6, 2.18.0 to before 2.18.5, 2.19.0 to before 2.19.6, 2.20.0 to before 2.20.5, 2.21.0 to before 2.21.4 and 9 more. The record lists 5 products in all, each with its versions, under "Who is affected" on this page.

Install the update the vendor names in its advisory, linked first under "How do I fix" on this page. If you can't patch today, follow the vendor's mitigation and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet.

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