CVE-2026-82252

gitoxide before 0.52.1 follows symlinks when reading a worktree's .gitmodules file (CWE-59, improper link resolution before file access), so a crafted repository whose .gitmodules is a symlink can cause gix to read and parse any file outside the repository tree as submodule configuration. An attacker who gets a user or pipeline to clone or inspect such a malicious repository can inject out-of-repository bytes into submodule metadata, exposing attacker-controlled name, path, and url values derived from external files. CVSS 4.0 rates this 8.7 High with a network vector and high confidentiality impact only (no integrity or availability impact), meaning the practical gain is disclosure of external file contents through injected metadata rather than code execution or tampering. Anyone building with or running gitoxide/gix before 0.52.1 is affected, with the realistic population being developers, CI pipelines, and downstream tools that process untrusted repositories; the install base is not published. There is currently no public proof-of-concept, the CVE is not in CISA KEV, and EPSS estimates a 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (32nd percentile), so no exploitation is known.

What to do: Upgrade gitoxide to 0.52.1 or later and rebuild any applications or tools that embed the gix crates. Until patched, avoid cloning or opening untrusted repositories with vulnerable versions and check whether .gitmodules in inspected repositories is a symlink pointing outside the repository tree. Downstream maintainers should audit their dependency trees for gix < 0.52.1 and bump to the fixed release.