CVE-2024-53858 — cli
MEDIUMCVE-2024-53858 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Information Exposure vulnerability in github.com/cli/cli/v2. A fix is available for github.com/cli/cli/v2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Recursive repository cloning can leak authentication tokens to non-GitHub submodule hosts in the gh cli
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-2024-53858.
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
github.com/cli/cli/v2Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
A security vulnerability has been identified in the GitHub CLI that could leak authentication tokens when cloning repositories containing git submodules hosted outside of GitHub.com and ghe.com.
Details
This vulnerability stems from several gh commands used to clone a repository with submodules from a non-GitHub host including gh repo clone, gh repo fork, gh pr checkout. These GitHub CLI commands invoke git with instructions to retrieve authentication tokens using the credential.helper configuration variable for any host encountered.
Prior to 2.63.0, hosts other than GitHub.com and ghe.com are treated as GitHub Enterprise Server hosts and have tokens sourced from the following environment variables before falling back to host-specific tokens stored within system-specific secured storage:
GITHUB_ENTERPRISE_TOKENGH_ENTERPRISE_TOKENGITHUB_TOKENwhenCODESPACESenvironment variable is set
The result being git sending authentication tokens when cloning submodules.
In 2.63.0, these GitHub CLI commands will limit the hosts for which gh acts as a credential helper to source authentication tokens. Additionally, GITHUB_TOKEN will only be used for GitHub.com and ghe.com.
Impact
Successful exploitation could lead to a third-party using leaked authentication tokens to access privileged resources.
Remediation and mitigation
- Upgrade
ghto2.63.0 - Revoke authentication tokens used with the GitHub CLI:
- Review your personal security log and any relevant audit logs for actions associated with your account or enterprise
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/cli/cli/v2 | all versions | 2.63.0go get github.com/cli/cli/v2@v2.63.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/cli/cli/v2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/cli/cli/v2 to 2.63.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-53858 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Assume what was exposed is already known: rotate any credential, token or key that the affected component could return, restrict the endpoint to callers that genuinely need it, and strip sensitive fields from responses and error output at the boundary rather than relying on the client not to read them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-53858 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.