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[pull] master from git:master#203

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May 11, 2026
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[pull] master from git:master#203
pull[bot] merged 7 commits into
turkdevops:masterfrom
git:master

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@pull pull Bot commented May 11, 2026

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dscho and others added 7 commits March 6, 2026 13:52
The output of `git clone` is a vital component for understanding what
has happened when things go wrong. However, these logs are partially
under the control of the remote server (via the "sideband", which
typically contains what the remote `git pack-objects` process sends to
`stderr`), and is currently not sanitized by Git.

This makes Git susceptible to ANSI escape sequence injection (see
CWE-150, https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/150.html), which allows
attackers to corrupt terminal state, to hide information, and even to
insert characters into the input buffer (i.e. as if the user had typed
those characters).

To plug this vulnerability, disallow any control character in the
sideband, replacing them instead with the common `^<letter/symbol>`
(e.g. `^[` for `\x1b`, `^A` for `\x01`).

There is likely a need for more fine-grained controls instead of using a
"heavy hammer" like this, which will be introduced subsequently.

Helped-by: Phillip Wood <phillip.wood@dunelm.org.uk>
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
The preceding commit fixed the vulnerability whereas sideband messages
(that are under the control of the remote server) could contain ANSI
escape sequences that would be sent to the terminal verbatim.

However, this fix may not be desirable under all circumstances, e.g.
when remote servers deliberately add coloring to their messages to
increase their urgency.

To help with those use cases, give users a way to opt-out of the
protections: `sideband.allowControlCharacters`.

Suggested-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
The preceding two commits introduced special handling of the sideband
channel to neutralize ANSI escape sequences before sending the payload
to the terminal, and `sideband.allowControlCharacters` to override that
behavior.

However, as reported by brian m. carlson, some `pre-receive` hooks that
are actively used in practice want to color their messages and therefore
rely on the fact that Git passes them through to the terminal, even
though they have no way to determine whether the receiving side can
actually handle Escape sequences (think e.g. about the practice
recommended by Git that third-party applications wishing to use Git
functionality parse the output of Git commands).

In contrast to other ANSI escape sequences, it is highly unlikely that
coloring sequences can be essential tools in attack vectors that mislead
Git users e.g. by hiding crucial information.

Therefore we can have both: Continue to allow ANSI coloring sequences to
be passed to the terminal by default, and neutralize all other ANSI
Escape sequences.

Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
…rough

Even though control sequences that erase characters are quite juicy for
attack scenarios, where attackers are eager to hide traces of suspicious
activities, during the review of the side band sanitizing patch series
concerns were raised that there might be some legimitate scenarios where
Git server's `pre-receive` hooks use those sequences in a benign way.

Control sequences to move the cursor can likewise be used to hide tracks
by overwriting characters, and have been equally pointed out as having
legitimate users.

Let's add options to let users opt into passing through those ANSI
Escape sequences: `sideband.allowControlCharacters` now supports also
`cursor` and `erase`, and it parses the value as a comma-separated list.

Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
The main objection against sanitizing the sideband that was raised
during the review of the sideband sanitizing patches, first on the
git-security mailing list, then on the public mailing list, was that
there are some setups where server-side `pre-receive` hooks want to
error out, giving colorful messages to the users on the client side (if
they are not redirecting the output into a file, that is).

To avoid breaking such setups, the default chosen by the sideband
sanitizing patches is to pass through ANSI color sequences.

Still, there might be some use case out there where that is not enough.
Therefore the `sideband.allowControlCharacters` config setting allows
for configuring  levels of sanitizing.

As Junio Hamano pointed out, to keep users safe by default, we need to
be able to scope this to some servers because while a user may trust
their company's Git server, the same might not apply to other Git
servers.

To allow for this, let's imitate the way `http.<url>.*` offers
to scope config settings to certain URLs, by letting users
override the `sideband.allowControlCharacters` setting via
`sideband.<url>.allowControlCharacters`.

Suggested-by: Junio Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
The topic so far allows users to tweak the configuration variable
sideband.allowControlCharacters to override the hardcoded default,
but among which there is the value called 'default'.  The plan [*]
of the series is to loosen the setting by a later commit in the
series and schedule it to tighten at the Git 3.0 boundary for end
users, at which point, the meaning of this 'default' value will
change.

Which is a dubious design.

A user expresses their preference by setting configuration variable
in order to guard against sudden change brought in by changes to the
hardcoded default behaviour, and letting them set it to 'default'
that will change at the Git 3.0 boundary defeats its purpose.  If a
user wants to say "I am easy and can go with whatever hardcoded
default Git implementors choose for me", they simply leave the
configuration variable unspecified.

Let's remove it from the state before Git 3.0 so that those users
who set it to 'default' will not see the behaviour changed under
their feet all of sudden.

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Try to resurrect and reboot a stalled "avoid sending risky escape
sequences taken from sideband to the terminal" topic by Dscho.  The
plan is to keep it in 'next' long enough to see if anybody screams
with the "everything dropped except for ANSI color escape sequences"
default.

* jc/neuter-sideband-fixup:
  sideband: drop 'default' configuration
  sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis
  sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through
  sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default
  sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control characters
  sideband: mask control characters
@pull pull Bot locked and limited conversation to collaborators May 11, 2026
@pull pull Bot added the ⤵️ pull label May 11, 2026
@pull pull Bot merged commit 7760f83 into turkdevops:master May 11, 2026
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