CVE-2026-78676

GitPython's GitConfigParser contains a configuration-injection flaw (CWE-88/CWE-94) in its read-then-write round trip: multi-line values parsed from an on-disk config file using git's standard backslash-continuation syntax are decoded into Python strings with embedded newlines, and when the parser later rewrites the file, write_section() serializes them as a bare, unquoted newline-plus-tab continuation that real git parses as separate top-level config lines. The recently added UNSAFE_CONFIG_CHARS_RE safety guard only applies to values passed directly to set()/set_value()/add_value()/add_section(), never to values loaded from disk via _read(), so any unrelated write can turn a dormant value into a live directive such as core.hooksPath = <attacker-controlled path>. An attacker who can plant such a value in a config file that a GitPython-based application later rewrites gains arbitrary code execution, because git will execute the attacker's hook programs with the privileges of the user running GitPython. Developers, CI/CD systems, and pip-packaged tools that embed GitPython and rewrite git config files are affected, with GitPython 3.1.58 at HEAD confirmed vulnerable. No public PoC exists, it is not in CISA KEV, and EPSS assigns only a 0.4% probability of exploitation within 30 days, so no exploitation is currently known.

What to do: Monitor GitPython for a patched release beyond 3.1.58/commit 9729ed3b (no fixed version is identified in the available data) and upgrade as soon as one is published. In the interim, avoid letting GitConfigParser rewrite config files that may contain multi-line (backslash-continuation) values, audit managed .git/config and related files for values with embedded newlines or unexpected trailing fragments like hooksPath, and restrict write access to those files to trusted principals.