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CVE-2025-27614: A High-Risk Gitk Vulnerability Enabling System Compromise

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Overview

In this blog post, we will discuss the recently identified vulnerability, CVE-2025-27614, which poses a significant risk to users of Gitk, a widely-used Git history browser based on Tcl/Tk. This vulnerability allows an attacker to deceive a user into executing potentially harmful scripts, leading to system compromise or data leakage. This issue is particularly serious due to the widespread use of Gitk and the severity of potential impacts, which include both system compromise and data leakage.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-27614
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.6)
Attack Vector: Local (Via cloned Git repositories)
Privileges Required: User level
User Interaction: Required (Social Engineering)
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

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Product | Affected Versions

Gitk | 2.41.0 to 2.43.6, 2.44.0 to 2.44.3, 2.45.0 to 2.45.3, 2.46.0 to 2.46.3, 2.47.0 to 2.47.2, 2.48.0 to 2.48.1, 2.49.0

How the Exploit Works

The exploit takes advantage of a design flaw in Gitk that allows an attacker to craft a Git repository in such a way that tricks a user into running any script supplied by the attacker. This is achieved by invoking ‘gitk filename’, where the filename has a particular structure. The script is run with the privileges of the user, enabling a potential system compromise or data leakage. The exploit requires some degree of social engineering, as the user has to be convinced to clone and interact with the malicious repository.

Conceptual Example Code

Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This is a hypothetical shell command that the user might be tricked into running:

$ gitk malicious_filename

In this example, “malicious_filename” is a file within the cloned Git repository that has been crafted by the attacker to trigger the exploit when interacted with via Gitk.

Mitigation

The vulnerability has been fixed in the following Gitk versions: 2.43.7, 2.44.4, 2.45.4, 2.46.4, 2.47.3, 2.48.2, 2.49.1, and 2.50. It is highly recommended to update to these versions to prevent potential exploitation. If immediate patching is not possible, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) may serve as temporary mitigation, but should by no means be considered a long-term solution.

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Disclaimer:

The information and code presented in this article are provided for educational and defensive cybersecurity purposes only. Any conceptual or pseudocode examples are simplified representations intended to raise awareness and promote secure development and system configuration practices.

Do not use this information to attempt unauthorized access or exploit vulnerabilities on systems that you do not own or have explicit permission to test.

Ameeba and its authors do not endorse or condone malicious behavior and are not responsible for misuse of the content. Always follow ethical hacking guidelines, responsible disclosure practices, and local laws.

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