GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96
MEDIUMGHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Path Traversal vulnerability in github.com/go-git/go-git/v5. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
go-git: Crafted repositories may modify main and submodule .git directories
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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 GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96.
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
GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 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 360,399 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
github.com/go-git/go-git/v5🐹github.com/go-git/go-git/v6🐹github.com/go-git/go-gitReal-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
Impact
A path validation issue in go-git could allow crafted repository data to affect files outside the intended checkout target, including the repository's .git directory.
These validations were introduced in upstream Git years ago, so the vulnerability arose from go-git drifting from those checks. Some attack vectors were platform-specific: certain payloads affected only Windows users, others affected only macOS users, and some applied across all supported platforms.
Using non-descendant go-billy filesystem instances, or different filesystem types, for the Storer and Worktree may provide some isolation against .git directory manipulation. For example, users that store the .git directory through memfs while using osfs for the worktree are not affected by this vulnerability in the main repository, because repository metadata is not materialized inside the worktree filesystem.
However, this isolation does not necessarily apply when the repository contains submodules, since submodule dotgit directories may still be represented or materialized within the worktree context.
It is important to note that exploitation requires a maliciously crafted repository payload. Users should always exercise caution when interacting with repositories or Git servers they do not trust.
Patches
Users should upgrade to a patched version in order to mitigate this vulnerability. Versions prior to v5 are likely to be affected, users are recommended to upgrade to a supported go-git version.
Credits
Thanks to @kodareef5, @AyushParkara and @N0zoM1z0 for reporting this to the go-git project in three separate reports. 🙇
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 | all versions | 5.19.1 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/go-git/go-git/v6 | all versions | 6.0.0-alpha.4 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/go-git/go-git | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/go-git/go-git/v5. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 to 5.19.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96. 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-crhj-59gh-8x96 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.