libgit2 Shell Command Injection via ssh_libssh2 Backend
libgit2 versions before 1.8.7 and 1.9.0 before 1.9.7 built with the libssh2 SSH backend (USE_SSH=libssh2) contain a shell command injection vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on an SSH server by supplying a repository path containing unescaped shell metacharacters such as single quotes, semicolons, or pipes. The gen_proto() function in ssh_libssh2.c inserts the repository path directly into a shell command string without escaping special characters before passing it to libssh2_channel_exec(), enabling an attacker to craft a malicious submodule URL in a .gitmodules file that, when processed during a recursive clone, causes the remote server's shell to interpret injected commands under the victim's SSH user account.
CVE-2026-5917
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-5917
libgit2
Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- Not stated in this record
- Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"vendor": "libgit2",
"product": "libgit2",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "0",
"lessThan": "1.8.7",
"versionType": "custom"
},
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "1.9.0",
"lessThan": "1.9.7",
"versionType": "semver"
}
],
"defaultStatus": "affected"
}
]- Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-5917
Source reference:
/cveMetadata/cveId
Publisher severity
high
Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics
- Event
- #5437 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date