CVE-2025-21614

Workarounds

In cases where a bump to the latest version of go-git is not possible, we recommend limiting its use to only trust-worthy Git servers.

Credit

Thanks to Ionut Lalu for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability to us.

A denial of service (DoS) vulnerability was discovered in go-git versions prior to v5.13. This vulnerability allows an attacker to perform denial of service attacks by providing specially crafted responses from a Git server which triggers resource exhaustion in go-git clients.

This is a go-git implementation issue and does not affect the upstream git cli.

The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.

CVE-2025-21614 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (5.13.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Users running versions of go-git from v4 and above are recommended to upgrade to v5.13 in order to mitigate this vulnerability.

1. What is CVE-2025-21614? CVE-2025-21614 is a high-severity improper input validation vulnerability in gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4 (go), affecting versions >= 4.0.0, <= 4.13.1. It is fixed in 5.13.0. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
2. How severe is CVE-2025-21614? CVE-2025-21614 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which packages are affected by CVE-2025-21614?
   • gopkg.in/src-d/go-git.v4 (go) (versions >= 4.0.0, <= 4.13.1)
   • github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 (go) (versions < 5.13.0)
   • github.com/go-git/go-git (go) (versions >= 4.0.0, <= 4.13.1)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-21614? Yes. CVE-2025-21614 is fixed in 5.13.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-21614 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-21614 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-21614 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2025-21614? Upgrade github.com/go-git/go-git/v5 to 5.13.0 or later.