CVE-2022-46648 is a high-severity (CVSS 8) Code Injection vulnerability in git. A fix is available for git — see the affected versions and patch details below.
ruby-git has potential remote code execution vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2022-46648.
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-2022-46648 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 378,156 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
gitReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The git gem, between versions 1.2.0 and 1.12.0, incorrectly parsed the output of the git ls-files command using eval() to unescape quoted file names. If a file name was added to the git repository contained special characters, such as \n, then the git ls-files command would print the file name in quotes and escape any special characters. If the Git#ls_files method encountered a quoted file name it would use eval() to unquote and unescape any special characters, leading to potential remote code execution. Version 1.13.0 of the git gem was released which correctly parses any quoted file names.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | git | ≥ 1.2.0&&< 1.13.0 | 1.13.0bundle update git --conservative |
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.
Fix
Update git to 1.13.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-46648 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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-2022-46648 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2022-46648. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Satellite 6.11 for RHEL 7 | tfm-rubygem-git-0:1.18.0-0.1.el7sat | RHSA-2023:5980 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.12 for RHEL 8 | rubygem-git-0:1.18.0-1.el8sat | RHSA-2023:5979 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.13 for RHEL 8 | rubygem-git-0:1.18.0-1.el8sat | RHSA-2023:5931 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.14 for RHEL 8 | rubygem-git-0:1.18.0-1.el8sat | RHSA-2023:6818 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-46648 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2022-46648 across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.