Git Patches Flaw That Lets Malicious Repositories Execute Code During Recursive Clones Swati KhandelwalNov 10, 2026Vulnerability / Software Security A flaw in Git can let a malicious repository run an attacker's code on a computer that clones it recursively, together with its submodules. The Git project fixed it this week in Git 2.56.1, with matching fixes for the 2.50 through 2.55 series in 2.50.2, 2.51.3, 2.52.1, 2.53.1, 2.54.1 and 2.55.1. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2026-111760, is an integer truncation in how Git handles its index. An extremely long path in a repository can pass Git's safety check, but Git then writes it to disk under a shorter name that an attacker can set to .git. This lets an attacker replace a submodule's .git file with a symbolic link to a folder holding malicious hooks or configuration. Hooks are programs Git runs at set points, so once Git uses that folder, the attacker's code can run. Submodules matter here because Git refuses to replace a .git folder with a symbolic link, but in a freshly cloned submodule, .git is a file. The fixed versions, listed in the Git project's release announcement, refuse such extremely long paths before their length can be cut short. GitHub, which ships Git in its own tools, explained the fixes in a detailed write-up. It advises installing a fixed version from your operating system or Git distributor, and updating any app that ships its own copy of Git. The company has already applied the fixes to github.com and GitHub Enterprise Cloud. For GitHub Enterprise Server, they are in versions 3.19.15, 3.20.11, 3.21.9 and 3.22.4. Fixed versions of GitHub Desktop and the GitHub Copilot app are being prepared. GitHub Codespaces and GitHub Actions will also get the fixed Git. Git for Windows had not released a version based on Git 2.56.1 as of Tuesday at 19:09 UTC, a check of its release tags by The Hacker News found. Until a fixed version is installed, GitHub suggests these steps, which do not replace the fixes: Do not recursively clone repositories you do not trust. Do not merge content or tags you do not trust. Do not process binary patches or fast-import streams from sources you do not trust. The Git releases also fix five other flaws: CVE-2026-113408: When someone clones an empty repository over Git protocol v2, a malicious server can send a branch name that contains path traversal. With the files reference backend, a later update to that branch can then write outside Git's reference folder. CVE-2026-114467: Merging a tag that carries more than two GPG signatures corrupts Git's stack memory and can cause a denial of service. Hosting services that run such merges for users may also be affected. CVE-2026-114469: A binary patch that expands to a very large size can get past Git's patch size limit of about 1 GiB and crash Git with an out-of-bounds read. CVE-2026-105437: A very large merge, with many conflicts and a large conflict-marker-size attribute, can make Git write past the end of a buffer that is too small, corrupting heap memory. CVE-2026-114466: Three git fast-import features, rewrite-submodules-from, rewrite-submodules-to and export-pack-edges, could be used to read arbitrary files or to create files and add data to them. Git now rejects them in an input stream unless --allow-unsafe-features is set. GitLab, which assigned CVE-2026-105437, said code-hosting servers are most likely to be targeted through git merge-tree. A server may run that command to check whether a pull or merge request can be merged. The conflict-marker-size attribute can be set in a .gitattributes file committed to a repository. If a server reads attributes from the repository, any user who can push branches and open a pull or merge request can trigger the flaw. As a workaround for this flaw, servers that cannot upgrade yet can add conflict-marker-size=7 to each repository's info/attributes file, or turn off those merge checks for untrusted repositories. Found this article interesting? Follow us on Google News, Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. Application Security, cybersecurity, Software Security, Supply Chain, Vulnerability Microsoft Paint RCE Fix Now Available, but Windows Update Won't Deliver It Apple to Start Scanning Publicly Shared iCloud Photos and Files for Harmful Content Google Warns LLMjacking Attacks Are Costing Some Enterprises Up to $1 Million in Cloud Charges Synology NAS Devices Targeted in Ransomware Attacks Exploiting Patched DSM Flaw Debian and Ubuntu APT Flaw Lets MitM Attackers Swap Verified Packages and Run Code as Root Xen Hypervisor Flaws Let One Malicious VM Read and Write Any Other VM's Memory The Rise of the Threat Operator: How AI Will Redefine Security Operations and Careers Red Hat Patches 9.8-Rated Linux TCP RCE Flaw While Ubuntu Releases Fixes for Testing ThreatsDay: Apache OFBiz RCE, DreamHost Breach, DeFi Site Hijacks + 17 More Stories Google Issues Patches for Critical Android Flaw That Could Allow RCE Without User Interaction New Wave of Refrigeration Cyberattacks Hits Supermarkets Across Europe, Forcing Stores to Pull Food Is Your Exposure Management Platform Leaving You Exposed? Five Tests to Find Out Critical Rails Flaw Lets Attackers Write Server Files via Crafted ImageMagick Uploads Google Disrupts 1.3 Million-Device Android Botnet, Says TV Box Maker Sold Criminal Access Claude Code's “Don't Ask Again” File Exposes Passwords and Keys in 1,122 Public Copies on GitHub CISA Confirms Hackers Exploiting WordPress Core Flaw During Software Upgrades Hackers Hide Linux Backdoor in Control Web Panel Server to Execute Commands Without Logs 5 Active Cyber Threats That Put US Enterprises at Risk in October 2026 OpenSSH Issues Emergency Fix for Flaw Letting Long Passwords Bypass SSH Auth on Alpine Linux The Collapsed Patch Window: Why Runtime Protection is Now Your First Line of Defense Against AI-Driven Attacks The Flood is Coming And The Pipes Were Already Full Hackers Target OpenSSH SSHole Flaw Within Hours of Disclosure, Gain Root on Honeypot Binance Reveals How Fake Job Interviews and AI Tool Abuse Led to $6.43 Billion Theft OpenAI AI Pipeline Generates 948 Linux Root Escalation Exploits in 30-Hour Run Assess Your Organization's AI Code Sprawl Exposure With This Practical Guide Beyond CVE Scanning: Book a Demo of Continuous AI-Powered Web Pentesting See How Bitdefender GravityZone Identifies Shadow AI and Prioritizes Endpoint Risks Detect Lateral Movement and Evasive Attacks With Corelight's Open NDR Platform Your SOC Has an Identity Blind Spot. Here's How to Fix It Learn how to close critical identity visibility gaps in your SOC, detect hidden threats, and accelerate incident response across human, machine, and AI identities. Secure My Spot Roadmap for AI-Ready Security Operations Evaluate Attack Surface Visibility With an AI Threat Readiness Framework Learn how to assess AI threat readiness, strengthen attack surface visibility, and prepare security operations for emerging threats in this practical webinar. Accelerate Incident Response: 95% Faster Containment Cut containment time from 48 hours to 3. Read the Orchid IR case study. BeyondTrust an 8X Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for PAM Gain clarity on the PAM market and understand why BeyondTrust is again a Leader. Governance Sets the Ceiling on Your AI Security Program See the five moves that raise a Stage 2 Govern score to a defensible Stage 3. 11 Real Stories: How Identity Exposure Unlocks Active Attack Paths Map cross-domain privilege escalation to sever breach routes at key choke points. The Collapsed Patch Window: Why Runtime Protection is Now Your First Line of Defense Against AI-Driven Attacks Your Attack Surface Is Growing Faster Than Your Team Can Respond The MSP Margin Math Nobody's Doing: Your Next Technician Might Already be on Payroll PEDM vs. Standing Elevated Privileges: Control Access Without Flooding the Helpdesk