CVE-2023-41040VulnerabilityPublished 30 Aug 2023Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-41040: GitPython · Path Traversal

Affects GitPythonSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.0 Medium : upgrade to 3.1.37 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 65% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 3.1.37

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Aug 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade GitPython to 3.1.37.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PyPIgitpython`pkg:pypi/gitpython`Other threats	Affected <3.1.37	Fixed in 3.1.37

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

The most effective mitigation is to upgrade GitPython to version 3.1.37 or later, where the vulnerability has been fixed by enforcing proper path validation. Organizations should audit all codebases and CI/CD configurations to identify any usage of GitPython and ensure they are not running vulnerable versions. Where upgrading is not immediately possible, implementing strict input validation on any user-supplied data that influences GitPython operations can reduce risk. Running GitPython processes with least privilege and sandboxing them can limit the impact of potential exploitation. Monitoring logs for unusual errors related to file access in GitPython can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, educating developers about the risks of path traversal and secure handling of file paths in code is recommended to prevent similar issues.

Description

GitPython is a python library used to interact with Git repositories. In order to resolve some git references, GitPython reads files from the `.git` directory, in some places the name of the file being read is provided by the user, GitPython doesn't check if this file is located outside the `.git` directory. This allows an attacker to make GitPython read any file from the system. This vulnerability is present in https://github.com/gitpython-developers/GitPython/blob/1c8310d7cae144f74a671cbe17e51f63a830adbf/git/refs/symbolic.py#L174-L175. That code joins the base directory with a user given string without checking if the final path is located outside the base directory. This vulnerability cannot be used to read the contents of files but could in theory be used to trigger a denial of service for the program. This issue has been addressed in version 3.1.37.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of this vulnerability is the risk of denial of service in development environments, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, or any automated tooling that uses vulnerable GitPython versions. Disruptions could delay software development and deployment processes, impacting productivity and potentially delaying critical updates or patches. While the vulnerability does not expose sensitive data directly, the ability to cause service interruptions could be leveraged by attackers to degrade operational capabilities. Organizations relying heavily on automated Git operations or integrating GitPython into larger software supply chains may face increased risk. Additionally, if exploited in multi-tenant or shared environments, this vulnerability could be used to interfere with other users’ workflows. The impact is more pronounced in sectors with stringent uptime requirements such as finance, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure, which are prevalent in Europe.

Summary

GitPython is a widely used Python library that facilitates interaction with Git repositories programmatically. The vulnerability CVE-2023-41040 is a path traversal flaw categorized under CWE-22, found in GitPython versions before 3.1.37. The root cause lies in the symbolic reference resolution code, specifically in the file git/refs/symbolic.py, where the library reads files from the .git directory based on user-supplied file names. The code concatenates the base .git directory path with the user-provided file name without verifying if the resulting path remains confined within the .git directory. This improper validation allows an attacker to craft a pathname that escapes the .git directory, causing GitPython to attempt to read arbitrary files on the filesystem. Although the vulnerability does not permit reading the contents of these files, it can lead to denial of service conditions by causing unexpected errors or crashes in applications relying on GitPython. The vulnerability requires local access (attack vector: local) but no privileges or user interaction, making it relatively easy to exploit in environments where untrusted input reaches GitPython. The issue was publicly disclosed on August 30, 2023, and has been remediated in GitPython version 3.1.37 by adding proper path validation to ensure file accesses remain within the .git directory. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.0, reflecting a medium severity primarily due to the limited impact on confidentiality and integrity but a potential impact on availability.

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #6OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Nov 2025, 22:21 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-22

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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