When cloning a repository, Git must determine (a) what transport
mechanism to use, and (b) whether or not the clone is local.
Since f38aa83f9a (use local cloning if insteadOf makes a local URL,
2014-07-17), the latter check happens after the remote has been
initialized, and references the remote's URL instead of the local path.
This is done to make it possible for a `url.<base>.insteadOf` rule to
convert a remote URL into a local one, in which case the `clone_local()`
mechanism should be used.
However, with a specially crafted repository, Git can be tricked into
using a non-local transport while still setting `is_local` to "1" and
using the `clone_local()` optimization. The below test case
demonstrates such an instance, and shows that it can be used to include
arbitrary (known) paths in the working copy of a cloned repository on a
victim's machine[^1], even if local file clones are forbidden by
`protocol.file.allow`.
This happens in a few parts:
1. We first call `get_repo_path()` to see if the remote is a local
path. If it is, we replace the repo name with its absolute path.
2. We then call `transport_get()` on the repo name and decide how to
access it. If it was turned into an absolute path in the previous
step, then we should always treat it like a file.
3. We use `get_repo_path()` again, and set `is_local` as appropriate.
But it's already too late to rewrite the repo name as an absolute
path, since we've already fed it to the transport code.
The attack works by including a submodule whose URL corresponds to a
path on disk. In the below example, the repository "sub" is reachable
via the dumb HTTP protocol at (something like):
http://127.0.0.1:NNNN/dumb/sub.git
However, the path "http:/127.0.0.1:NNNN/dumb" (that is, a top-level
directory called "http:", then nested directories "127.0.0.1:NNNN", and
"dumb") exists within the repository, too.
To determine this, it first picks the appropriate transport, which is
dumb HTTP. It then uses the remote's URL in order to determine whether
the repository exists locally on disk. However, the malicious repository
also contains an embedded stub repository which is the target of a
symbolic link at the local path corresponding to the "sub" repository on
disk (i.e., there is a symbolic link at "http:/127.0.0.1/dumb/sub.git",
pointing to the stub repository via ".git/modules/sub/../../../repo").
This stub repository fools Git into thinking that a local repository
exists at that URL and thus can be cloned locally. The affected call is
in `get_repo_path()`, which in turn calls `get_repo_path_1()`, which
locates a valid repository at that target.
This then causes Git to set the `is_local` variable to "1", and in turn
instructs Git to clone the repository using its local clone optimization
via the `clone_local()` function.
The exploit comes into play because the stub repository's top-level
"$GIT_DIR/objects" directory is a symbolic link which can point to an
arbitrary path on the victim's machine. `clone_local()` resolves the
top-level "objects" directory through a `stat(2)` call, meaning that we
read through the symbolic link and copy or hardlink the directory
contents at the destination of the link.
In other words, we can get steps (1) and (3) to disagree by leveraging
the dangling symlink to pick a non-local transport in the first step,
and then set is_local to "1" in the third step when cloning with
`--separate-git-dir`, which makes the symlink non-dangling.
This can result in data-exfiltration on the victim's machine when
sensitive data is at a known path (e.g., "/home/$USER/.ssh").
The appropriate fix is two-fold:
- Resolve the transport later on (to avoid using the local
clone optimization with a non-local transport).
- Avoid reading through the top-level "objects" directory when
(correctly) using the clone_local() optimization.
This patch merely demonstrates the issue. The following two patches will
implement each part of the above fix, respectively.
[^1]: Provided that any target directory does not contain symbolic
links, in which case the changes from 6f054f9fb3 (builtin/clone.c:
disallow `--local` clones with symlinks, 2022-07-28) will abort the
clone.
Reported-by: yvvdwf <yvvdwf@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Taylor Blau <me@ttaylorr.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
and full access to internals.
Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public
License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses,
compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus
Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.
Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/
including full documentation and Git related tools.
See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see
Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and
Documentation/git-<commandname>.txt for documentation of each command.
If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be
read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the
documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.
CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt
(man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is
installed).
Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to
the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.
The maintainer frequently sends the "What's cooking" reports that
list the current status of various development topics to the mailing
list. The discussion following them give a good reference for
project status, development direction and remaining tasks.
The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very
first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker"
and the name as (depending on your mood):
random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not
actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a
mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the
dictionary of slang.
"global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually
works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
"goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
58325b93c5
