Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-23618

LPE in Git For Windows Project Git For Windows ≤ 2.39.2

LPE
Published
14 February 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0039 31th percentile
Risk Priority 60 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-23618 is a high-severity Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) vulnerability in Git For Windows Project Git For Windows. Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked at the 31th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A08:2025 Software or Data Integrity Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Git for Windows is the Windows port of the revision control system Git. Prior to Git for Windows version 2.39.2, when `gitk` is run on Windows, it potentially runs executables from the current directory inadvertently, which can be exploited with…

more

some social engineering to trick users into running untrusted code. A patch is available in version 2.39.2. As a workaround, avoid using `gitk` (or Git GUI's "Visualize History" functionality) in clones of untrusted repositories.

CWE(s)
CWE-426

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574 Hijack Execution Flow Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the way operating systems run programs.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.001 DLL Stealth
Adversaries may abuse dynamic-link library files (DLLs) in order to achieve persistence, escalate privileges, and evade defenses.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.008 Path Interception by Search Order Hijacking Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the search order used to load other programs.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.007 Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.009 Path Interception by Unquoted Path Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking vulnerable file path references.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-22743Same product: Git For Windows Project Git For Windows
CVE-2023-29011Same product: Git For Windows Project Git For Windows
CVE-2023-29012Same product: Git For Windows Project Git For Windows
CVE-2024-41865Shared CWE-426
CVE-2024-45281Shared CWE-426
CVE-2025-0141Shared CWE-426
CVE-2026-48287Shared CWE-426
CVE-2026-21280Shared CWE-426
CVE-2024-42439Shared CWE-426
CVE-2024-22190Shared CWE-426

Affected Assets

git for windows project
git for windows
≤ 2.39.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-05 full match
prevents

Preventing execution of unauthorized code directly blocks the malicious binaries that an untrusted search path would load.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices include avoiding or sanitizing externally influenced search paths in application code.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened configuration baselines can enforce safe search paths and restrict environment variables that enable the weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can discover search-path issues but does not itself prevent them in production code.

A.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
degrades

Restricting software installation reduces the chance that untrusted binaries or libraries are placed in search paths.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include hard-coded or validated search paths and avoiding reliance on untrusted directories.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require absolute paths or integrity-checked search paths, directly mitigating CWE-426.

References