CVE-2023-41040 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4) Path Traversal vulnerability in gitpython. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for gitpython — see the affected versions and patch details below.
GitPython blind local file inclusion
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-41040.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
gitpythonReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
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.
Details
This vulnerability is present in
That code joins the base directory with a user given string without checking if the final path is located outside the base directory.
I was able to exploit it from three places, but there may be more code paths that lead to it:
PoC
Running GitPython within any repo should work, here is an example with the GitPython repo.
import git
r = git.Repo(".")
# This will make GitPython read the README.md file from the root of the repo
r.commit("../README.md")
r.tree("../README.md")
r.index.diff("../README.md")
# Reading /etc/random
# WARNING: this will probably halt your system, run with caution
# r.commit("../../../../../../../../../dev/random")
Impact
I wasn't able to show the contents of the files (that's why "blind" local file inclusion), depending on how GitPython is being used, this can be used by an attacker for something inoffensive as checking if a file exits, or cause a DoS by making GitPython read a big/infinite file (like /dev/random on Linux systems).
Possible solutions
A solution would be to check that the final path isn't located outside the repodir path (maybe even after resolving symlinks). Maybe there could be other checks in place to make sure that the reference names are valid.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | gitpython | all versions | 3.1.37pip install --upgrade 'gitpython==3.1.37' |
Affected Products
gitpythongitpython_projectResearch 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 gitpython, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update gitpython to 3.1.37 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-41040 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
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.
This vulnerability cannot be used to read the contents of files but could be used to trigger a denial of service for the program.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 | python3x-gitpython-0:3.1.40-1.el8ap | RHSA-2024:0322 |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 | automation-controller-0:4.5.5-2.el8ap | RHSA-2024:1640 |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 for RHEL 8 | GitPython-0:3.1.14-2.el8ost | RHSA-2024:0190 |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 for RHEL 9 | GitPython-0:3.1.14-2.el9ost | RHSA-2024:0215 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.14 for RHEL 8 | python-gitpython-0:3.1.40-0.1.el8pc | RHSA-2023:7851 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-41040 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.