CVE-2021-23632 — git
CRITICALCVE-2021-23632 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) OS Command Injection vulnerability in git. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Code injection in npm git
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-23632 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
gitnpmDescription
All versions of package git are vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE) due to missing sanitization in the Git.git method, which allows execution of OS commands rather than just git commands. Steps to Reproduce 1. Create a file named exploit.js with the following content: js var Git = require("git").Git; var repo = new Git("repo-test"); var user_input = "version; date"; repo.git(user_input, function(err, result) { console.log(result); }) 2. In the same directory as exploit.js, run npm install git. 3. Run exploit.js: node exploit.js. You should see the outputs of both the git version and date command-lines. Note that the repo-test Git repository does not need to be present to make this PoC work.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | git | all versions | No fix |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for git, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of git has shipped for CVE-2021-23632 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2021-23632 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-23632. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-23632 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-23632 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.