The Git project has patched six vulnerabilities, including a high-severity flaw that can let malicious repositories execute code during recursive cloning. The fixes were announced on November 10, 2026, and they cover unsafe file writes and memory corruption in merges, patches, and fast-import handling.
Git vulnerability fixes roll out across release lines
The patches ship in Git 2.56.1 and were also backported to 2.55.1, 2.54.1, 2.53.1, 2.52.1, 2.51.3, and 2.50.2. Users are told to move to 2.56.1 or to the latest fixed release for their branch. Any application that bundles its own Git copy needs the update as well.
CVE-2026-111760 and recursive cloning
CVE-2026-111760 carries a High rating and a CVSS score of 8.0. Git normally checks file paths before writing them, and it blocks paths that would overwrite repository data. An integer truncation in the index code lets a very long path pass that check under one name and then be written under a shorter one. An attacker can use that behavior to replace a submodule’s .git file with a symbolic link that points to a folder containing malicious settings or hooks. When Git later uses that folder, it runs the attacker’s code. The advisory says this appears to require the --recurse-submodules option, and the fix rejects overly long index paths before their length can be cut short.
Cloned repositories have triggered similar abuse before. Cyber Security News previously covered CVE-2025-48384, which CISA confirmed as exploited, and a Lazarus Group campaign that used a similar symlink trick against developers. Those examples show how clone bugs can turn into real attacks quickly.
Reference handling over protocol v2
CVE-2026-113408 affects cloning an empty repository over protocol v2. A malicious server can advertise a HEAD pointer whose name contains path-traversal pieces. Git did not check that name, so a later branch update could write outside the intended reference folder. Git now validates the target and other reference names it receives over protocol v2.
Memory corruption in merges and patches
CVE-2026-114467 is a stack memory bug tied to removing GPG signatures from a message. Git assumes there are at most two signatures, but a crafted tag with more can overflow a fixed-size array. Merging that tag could corrupt memory or crash, and hosting services that merge on behalf of users may also be affected.
CVE-2026-114469 involves binary patches. Git rejects patches above roughly 1 GiB, but it checked only the compressed size. A small crafted patch can expand beyond that limit, trigger an out-of-bounds read, and crash Git. The fix adds a check for the declared uncompressed size.
CVE-2026-105437 is a heap corruption bug in large merges. The memory calculation can overflow when many conflicts combine with a large conflict-marker-size setting. Git then allocates too little space and writes past it. Local merges and services that merge untrusted content are both affected.
Fast-import controls and service updates
CVE-2026-114466 affects git fast-import. Three features, rewrite-submodules-from, rewrite-submodules-to, and export-pack-edges, could read or write files outside the repository. Git now blocks those features in untrusted input unless the caller sets --allow-unsafe-features. That option should be enabled only for streams the caller trusts.
GitHub says it has already fixed github.com and its Enterprise Cloud products. GitHub Enterprise Server administrators should install 3.19.15, 3.20.11, 3.21.9, or 3.22.4. GitHub Desktop, the GitHub Copilot app, Codespaces, and Actions will also receive patched Git builds. Teams are also told to review build servers and automation tools, since those systems often clone repositories without anyone watching. The article links that risk to GitSpawn flaws that let booby-trapped repositories run code through AI coding agents.
Trusted-source limits before patching
If updates are not available right away, the article says to clone only from trusted servers and skip recursive clones of unknown repositories. It also says to avoid merging untrusted tags or content, and to avoid processing outside binary patches or fast-import streams. Those steps help, but they do not replace the patch.
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