Vulnerabilities > CVE-2008-3546 - Improper Restriction of Operations Within the Bounds of A Memory Buffer vulnerability in GIT

047910
CVSS 7.5 - HIGH
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
PARTIAL
Integrity impact
PARTIAL
Availability impact
PARTIAL
network
low complexity
linux
git
CWE-119
nessus
NVD
Published: 2008-08-07
Updated: 2018-10-11

Summary

Stack-based buffer overflow in the (1) diff_addremove and (2) diff_change functions in GIT before 1.5.6.4 might allow local users to execute arbitrary code via a PATH whose length is larger than the system's PATH_MAX when running GIT utilities such as git-diff or git-grep.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
OS
Linux
2
Application
Git
6

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
    This attack pattern involves causing a buffer overflow through manipulation of environment variables. Once the attacker finds that they can modify an environment variable, they may try to overflow associated buffers. This attack leverages implicit trust often placed in environment variables.
  • Overflow Buffers
    Buffer Overflow attacks target improper or missing bounds checking on buffer operations, typically triggered by input injected by an attacker. As a consequence, an attacker is able to write past the boundaries of allocated buffer regions in memory, causing a program crash or potentially redirection of execution as per the attackers' choice.
  • Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow
    This type of attack exploits a buffer overflow vulnerability in targeted client software through injection of malicious content from a custom-built hostile service.
  • Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow
    In this attack, the idea is to cause an active filter to fail by causing an oversized transaction. An attacker may try to feed overly long input strings to the program in an attempt to overwhelm the filter (by causing a buffer overflow) and hoping that the filter does not fail securely (i.e. the user input is let into the system unfiltered).
  • MIME Conversion
    An attacker exploits a weakness in the MIME conversion routine to cause a buffer overflow and gain control over the mail server machine. The MIME system is designed to allow various different information formats to be interpreted and sent via e-mail. Attack points exist when data are converted to MIME compatible format and back.

Nessus

  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-723-1.NASL
    descriptionIt was discovered that Git did not properly handle long file paths. If a user were tricked into performing commands on a specially crafted Git repository, an attacker could possibly execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user invoking the program. (CVE-2008-3546) It was discovered that the Git web interface (gitweb) did not correctly handle shell metacharacters when processing certain commands. A remote attacker could send specially crafted commands to the Git server and execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Git web server. This issue only applied to Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04 LTS. (CVE-2008-5516, CVE-2008-5517) It was discovered that the Git web interface (gitweb) did not properly restrict the diff.external configuration parameter. A local attacker could exploit this issue and execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Git web server. This issue only applied to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 8.10. (CVE-2008-5916). Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id36720
    published2009-04-23
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2009-2019 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2009-2018 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/36720
    titleUbuntu 6.06 LTS / 7.10 / 8.04 LTS / 8.10 : git-core vulnerabilities (USN-723-1)
  • NASL familyGentoo Local Security Checks
    NASL idGENTOO_GLSA-200809-16.NASL
    descriptionThe remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-200809-16 (Git: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code) Multiple boundary errors in the functions diff_addremove() and diff_change() when processing overly long repository path names were reported. Impact : A remote attacker could entice a user to run commands like
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id34297
    published2008-09-26
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34297
    titleGLSA-200809-16 : Git: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2008-9080.NASL
    description---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- ChangeLog : - Wed Oct 22 2008 Josh Boyer <jwboyer at gmail.com> 1.5.6.5-1 - git-1.5.6.5 (bug 458156) - Mon May 26 2008 James Bowes <jbowes at redhat.com> 1.5.5.2-1 - git-1.5.5.2 - Fri May 23 2008 Dennis Gilmore <dennis at ausil.us> 1.5.5.1-1.1 - minor rebuild for sparc Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id34483
    published2008-10-24
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34483
    titleFedora 9 : git-1.5.6.5-1.fc9 (2008-9080)
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idSUSE_GIT-5585.NASL
    descriptionThis patch fixes several buffer overflows in some git tools, when repositories contain very long pathnames. (CVE-2008-3546)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id34153
    published2008-09-10
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34153
    titleopenSUSE 10 Security Update : git (git-5585)
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idSUSE_11_0_GIT-080907.NASL
    descriptionThis patch fixes several buffer overflows in some git tools, when repositories contain very long pathnames. (CVE-2008-3546)
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id39969
    published2009-07-21
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2009-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/39969
    titleopenSUSE Security Update : git (git-183)
  • NASL familyDebian Local Security Checks
    NASL idDEBIAN_DSA-1637.NASL
    descriptionMultiple vulnerabilities have been identified in git-core, the core of the git distributed revision control system. Improper path length limitations in git
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id34212
    published2008-09-16
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2008-2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/34212
    titleDebian DSA-1637-1 : git-core - buffer overflow
  • NASL familySlackware Local Security Checks
    NASL idSLACKWARE_SSA_2009-051-02.NASL
    descriptionNew git packages are available for Slackware 12.0, 12.1, 12.2, and -current to fix security issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id35728
    published2009-02-23
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2009-2019 Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/35728
    titleSlackware 12.0 / 12.1 / 12.2 / current : git (SSA:2009-051-02)

References