CVE-2014-9706: Dulwich Dulwich Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4j5j-58j7-6c3w
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CVSS 9.8
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2014-9706 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) dulwich arbitrary code execution vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Dulwich libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves dulwich arbitrary code execution via commit with directory path starting with .git. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.9.10.

CVE-2014-9706 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2014-9706
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4j5j-58j7-6c3w
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Dulwich
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2014-9706

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Dulwich dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

dulwich fixed: 0.9.10 
pip install dulwich>=0.9.10
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show dulwich

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2014-9706, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show dulwich

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Dulwich in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.9.10), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show dulwich command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Dulwich, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The `build_index_from_tree` function in index.py in Dulwich versions 0.9.9 and below allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a commit with a directory path starting with `.git/`, which is not properly handled when checking out a working tree.

CVE-2014-9706 Affected Dulwich Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.9.10
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
dulwich
pypi/dulwich
PyPI
< 0.9.10
0.9.10

References

NVD — CVE-2014-9706 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9706
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/jelmer/dulwich/commit/091638be3c89f46f42c3b1d57dc1504af5729176
git.samba.org/ WEB
https://git.samba.org/?p=jelmer/dulwich.git;a=commitdiff;h=091638be3c89f46f42c3b1d57dc1504af5729176
Dulwich Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/jelmer/dulwich
Dulwich Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/dulwich/PYSEC-2015-34.yaml
lists.launchpad.net/dulwich-users/msg00... WEB
https://lists.launchpad.net/dulwich-users/msg00827.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-April/154523.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-April/154551.html
Dulwich Security Information SECURITY
http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3206
Dulwich Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/03/21/1
Dulwich Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/03/22/26

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2014-9706?
CVE-2014-9706 is a security vulnerability in Dulwich involving Dulwich Arbitrary code execution via commit with directory path starting with .git under General Security Weakness.
Which Dulwich versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.9.10 across affected packages: dulwich.
What version fixes CVE-2014-9706?
Upgrading to 0.9.10 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is dulwich affected?
Yes, dulwich is affected in releases prior to 0.9.10. Upgrade your dependency to 0.9.10 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2014-9706?
CVE-2014-9706 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2014-9706?
CVE-2014-9706 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2014-9706?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show dulwich'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-4j5j-58j7-6c3w",
  "modified" : "2026-05-14T23:04:27Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T04:14:03Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2014-9706" ],
  "summary" : "Dulwich Arbitrary code execution via commit with directory path starting with .git",
  "details" : "The `build_index_from_tree` function in index.py in Dulwich versions 0.9.9 and below allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a commit with a directory path starting with `.git/`, which is not properly handled when checking out a working tree.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "dulwich"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.9.10"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9706"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jelmer/dulwich/commit/091638be3c89f46f42c3b1d57dc1504af5729176"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.samba.org/?p=jelmer/dulwich.git;a=commitdiff;h=091638be3c89f46f42c3b1d57dc1504af5729176"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jelmer/dulwich"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/dulwich/PYSEC-2015-34.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.launchpad.net/dulwich-users/msg00827.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-April/154523.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-April/154551.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3206"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/03/21/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/03/22/26"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-04-30T08:40:04Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2015-03-31T14:59:00Z"
  }
}