PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief
CVE-2026-42305 jelmer CVE debrief
Dulwich is a pure-Python implementation of the Git file formats and protocols. Versions starting with 0.10.0 and prior to 1.2.5 have an arbitrary file write leading to remote code execution when cloning or checking out a malicious Git repository on Windows. Dulwich's path-element validator accepted tree entries whose filenames contained bytes that Windows interprets as structural path syntax. Contributing configuration bugs made matters worse. The core.protectNTFS and core.protectHFS settings were looked up under a wrong option name and so user-set values were silently ignored, and core.protectNTFS only defaulted to true on Windows (Git upstream has defaulted it to true everywhere since CVE-2019-1353). Both have been corrected. Anyone who clones, fetches, or checks out an untrusted repository with Dulwich on Windows - either through the Dulwich CLI, porcelain.clone, or any downstream tool built on Dulwich - is impacted. POSIX clones are not directly exploitable (on POSIX is a literal filename byte), but a POSIX user can unknowingly propagate a malicious tree to Windows consumers via push or re-publication.
- Vendor
- jelmer
- Product
- dulwich
- CVSS
- HIGH 8.8
- CISA KEV
- Not listed in stored evidence
- Original CVE published
- 2026-06-10
- Original CVE updated
- 2026-06-11
- Advisory published
- 2026-06-10
- Advisory updated
- 2026-06-11
Who should care
Users of Dulwich on Windows who clone, fetch, or check out untrusted repositories are impacted. This includes users of the Dulwich CLI, porcelain.clone, or any downstream tool built on Dulwich.
Technical summary
The vulnerability is caused by Dulwich's path-element validator accepting tree entries whose filenames contained bytes that Windows interprets as structural path syntax. This, combined with configuration bugs, allows for arbitrary file writes leading to remote code execution.
Defensive priority
HIGH
Recommended defensive actions
- Upgrade to Dulwich 1.2.5 or later.
- Avoid cloning, fetching, or checking out untrusted repositories with Dulwich on Windows.
Evidence notes
The issue is fixed in Dulwich 1.2.5. Users should upgrade to 1.2.5 or later. There is no effective pre-patch workaround.
Official resources
CVE-2026-42305 was published on [2026-06-10T23:16:46.113Z](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42305) and modified on [2026-06-11T15:21:07.370Z](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42305).