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From: "Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: "brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>,
	Phillip Wood <phillip.wood123@gmail.com>,
	Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>,
	Ondrej Pohorelsky <opohorel@redhat.com>,
	Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>, Jeff King <peff@peff.net>,
	"D. Ben Knoble" <ben.knoble@gmail.com>,
	Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Subject: [PATCH v4 0/6] Sanitize sideband channel messages
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:17:56 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <pull.1853.v4.git.1770113882.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.1853.v3.git.1768602373.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

Git's sideband channel passes server output directly to the client terminal
without sanitizing it, creating an ANSI escape sequence injection
vulnerability (CWE-150 [https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/150.html]). A
malicious or compromised server can corrupt terminal state, obscure
information, or inject characters into the terminal's input buffer (which
the terminal will interpret as if the user had typed them).

Git users have no mechanism to distinguish between Git's legitimate output
and content displayed (or hidden) via attack sequences.

This series aims to fix the vulnerability by sanitizing control characters
in the sideband output. To address concerns about existing hacks that
exploit Git's lack of sanitizing, this security fix will only kick in with
Git v3.0, where the default will change to pass ANSI color sequences (SGR
codes) through by default, since server-side hooks exist that use these for
visibility (e.g. https://github.com/kikeonline/githook-explode). By default,
all other control characters will be rendered in caret notation (e.g., ESC
becomes ^[).

Users who need different behavior get configuration options:
sideband.allowControlCharacters provides an escape hatch for environments
that require raw passthrough. The defaults in Git v3.0 will be secure.

This series applies cleanly on v2.53.0.

Changes since v3:

 * Targeting maint-2.53 now instead of maint-2.47.
 * Turned the "safe by default" behavior into a breaking change that will be
   in effect in Git v3.0.

Changes since v2:

 * Added curly brackets around a single-line if clause.
 * Enclosed the values in the documentation within backticks.
 * Aligned the enum values for better readability.
 * Added support for sideband.<url>.allowControlCharacters (à la
   http.<url>.*) on top of sideband.allowControlCharacters.

Changes since v1:

 * Applied the suggestions by Phillip and brian.
 * Rebased onto v2.47.3.
 * Added more categories of ANSI Escape sequences that can be enabled (but
   that are off by default because they could be used to hide information).

Johannes Schindelin (6):
  sideband: mask control characters
  sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control characters
  sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default
  sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed
    through
  sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis
  sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0

 Documentation/config.adoc           |   2 +
 Documentation/config/sideband.adoc  |  39 ++++++
 sideband.c                          | 185 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 sideband.h                          |  14 +++
 t/t5409-colorize-remote-messages.sh | 100 +++++++++++++++
 transport.c                         |   3 +
 6 files changed, 341 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/config/sideband.adoc


base-commit: 67ad42147a7acc2af6074753ebd03d904476118f
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1853%2Fdscho%2Fsanitize-sideband-v4
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1853/dscho/sanitize-sideband-v4
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1853

Range-diff vs v3:

 1:  e6b71af0ca = 1:  7addb9ca52 sideband: mask control characters
 2:  8f64d65844 ! 2:  20058534e8 sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow control characters
     @@ Commit message
          Suggested-by: brian m. carlson <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>
          Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
      
     - ## Documentation/config.txt ##
     -@@ Documentation/config.txt: include::config/sequencer.txt[]
     + ## Documentation/config.adoc ##
     +@@ Documentation/config.adoc: include::config/sequencer.adoc[]
       
     - include::config/showbranch.txt[]
     + include::config/showbranch.adoc[]
       
     -+include::config/sideband.txt[]
     ++include::config/sideband.adoc[]
      +
     - include::config/sparse.txt[]
     + include::config/sparse.adoc[]
       
     - include::config/splitindex.txt[]
     + include::config/splitindex.adoc[]
      
     - ## Documentation/config/sideband.txt (new) ##
     + ## Documentation/config/sideband.adoc (new) ##
      @@
      +sideband.allowControlCharacters::
      +	By default, control characters that are delivered via the sideband
     @@ sideband.c: static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
      +static int allow_control_characters;
      +
       /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
     - static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     + static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
       {
     -@@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     - 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached >= 0)
     +@@ sideband.c: static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     + 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached != GIT_COLOR_UNKNOWN)
       		return use_sideband_colors_cached;
       
     -+	git_config_get_bool("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
     ++	repo_config_get_bool(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
      +			    &allow_control_characters);
      +
     - 	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp(key, &value))
     + 	if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &value))
       		use_sideband_colors_cached = git_config_colorbool(key, value);
     - 	else if (!git_config_get_string_tmp("color.ui", &value))
     + 	else if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "color.ui", &value))
      @@ sideband.c: void list_config_color_sideband_slots(struct string_list *list, const char *pref
       
       static void strbuf_add_sanitized(struct strbuf *dest, const char *src, int n)
 3:  44838acacc ! 3:  919111f590 sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default
     @@ Commit message
      
          Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
      
     - ## Documentation/config/sideband.txt ##
     + ## Documentation/config/sideband.adoc ##
      @@
       sideband.allowControlCharacters::
       	By default, control characters that are delivered via the sideband
     @@ sideband.c: static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
      +} allow_control_characters = ALLOW_ANSI_COLOR_SEQUENCES;
       
       /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
     - static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     -@@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     - 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached >= 0)
     + static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     +@@ sideband.c: static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     + 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached != GIT_COLOR_UNKNOWN)
       		return use_sideband_colors_cached;
       
     --	git_config_get_bool("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
     +-	repo_config_get_bool(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
      -			    &allow_control_characters);
     -+	switch (git_config_get_maybe_bool("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &i)) {
     ++	switch (repo_config_get_maybe_bool(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &i)) {
      +	case 0: /* Boolean value */
      +		allow_control_characters = i ? ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS :
      +			ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
      +		break;
      +	case -1: /* non-Boolean value */
     -+		if (git_config_get_string_tmp("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
     ++		if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
      +					      &value))
      +			; /* huh? `get_maybe_bool()` returned -1 */
      +		else if (!strcmp(value, "default"))
     @@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
      +		break; /* not configured */
      +	}
       
     - 	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp(key, &value))
     + 	if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &value))
       		use_sideband_colors_cached = git_config_colorbool(key, value);
      @@ sideband.c: void list_config_color_sideband_slots(struct string_list *list, const char *pref
       		list_config_item(list, prefix, keywords[i].keyword);
 4:  cc578465b9 ! 4:  ec48f1cba1 sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through
     @@ Commit message
      
          Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
      
     - ## Documentation/config/sideband.txt ##
     -@@ Documentation/config/sideband.txt: sideband.allowControlCharacters::
     + ## Documentation/config/sideband.adoc ##
     +@@ Documentation/config/sideband.adoc: sideband.allowControlCharacters::
       	By default, control characters that are delivered via the sideband
       	are masked, except ANSI color sequences. This prevents potentially
       	unwanted ANSI escape sequences from being sent to the terminal. Use
     @@ sideband.c: static struct keyword_entry keywords[] = {
      +}
       
       /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
     - static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     -@@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     - 		if (git_config_get_string_tmp("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
     + static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     +@@ sideband.c: static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     + 		if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
       					      &value))
       			; /* huh? `get_maybe_bool()` returned -1 */
      -		else if (!strcmp(value, "default"))
 5:  f2eb0a758c ! 5:  692d1a63ed sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis
     @@ Commit message
          Suggested-by: Junio Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
          Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
      
     - ## Documentation/config/sideband.txt ##
     -@@ Documentation/config/sideband.txt: sideband.allowControlCharacters::
     + ## Documentation/config/sideband.adoc ##
     +@@ Documentation/config/sideband.adoc: sideband.allowControlCharacters::
       	`true`::
       		Allow all control characters to be sent to the terminal.
       --
     @@ sideband.c: static void parse_allow_control_characters(const char *value)
      +	config.collect_fn = sideband_config_callback;
      +
      +	normalized_url = url_normalize(url, &config.url);
     -+	git_config(urlmatch_config_entry, &config);
     ++	repo_config(the_repository, urlmatch_config_entry, &config);
      +	free(normalized_url);
      +	string_list_clear(&config.vars, 1);
      +	urlmatch_config_release(&config);
       }
       
       /* Returns a color setting (GIT_COLOR_NEVER, etc). */
     -@@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
     - 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached >= 0)
     +@@ sideband.c: static enum git_colorbool use_sideband_colors(void)
     + 	if (use_sideband_colors_cached != GIT_COLOR_UNKNOWN)
       		return use_sideband_colors_cached;
       
     --	switch (git_config_get_maybe_bool("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &i)) {
     +-	switch (repo_config_get_maybe_bool(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &i)) {
      -	case 0: /* Boolean value */
      -		allow_control_characters = i ? ALLOW_ALL_CONTROL_CHARACTERS :
      -			ALLOW_NO_CONTROL_CHARACTERS;
      -		break;
      -	case -1: /* non-Boolean value */
     --		if (git_config_get_string_tmp("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
     +-		if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters",
      -					      &value))
      -			; /* huh? `get_maybe_bool()` returned -1 */
      -		else
     @@ sideband.c: static int use_sideband_colors(void)
      -	default:
      -		break; /* not configured */
      +	if (allow_control_characters == ALLOW_CONTROL_SEQUENCES_UNSET) {
     -+		if (!git_config_get_value("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &value))
     ++		if (!repo_config_get_value(the_repository, "sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", &value))
      +			sideband_allow_control_characters_config("sideband.allowcontrolcharacters", value);
      +
      +		if (allow_control_characters == ALLOW_CONTROL_SEQUENCES_UNSET)
      +			allow_control_characters = ALLOW_DEFAULT_ANSI_SEQUENCES;
       	}
       
     - 	if (!git_config_get_string_tmp(key, &value))
     + 	if (!repo_config_get_string_tmp(the_repository, key, &value))
      
       ## sideband.h ##
      @@ sideband.h: int demultiplex_sideband(const char *me, int status,
     @@ transport.c
       #include "bundle-uri.h"
      +#include "sideband.h"
       
     - static int transport_use_color = -1;
     + static enum git_colorbool transport_use_color = GIT_COLOR_UNKNOWN;
       static char transport_colors[][COLOR_MAXLEN] = {
      @@ transport.c: struct transport *transport_get(struct remote *remote, const char *url)
       
     - 	ret->hash_algo = &hash_algos[GIT_HASH_SHA1];
     + 	ret->hash_algo = &hash_algos[GIT_HASH_SHA1_LEGACY];
       
      +	sideband_apply_url_config(ret->url);
      +
 -:  ---------- > 6:  8b8244eca9 sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0

-- 
gitgitgadget

  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-02-03 10:18 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 85+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2025-01-14 18:19 [PATCH 0/3] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 1/3] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-15 14:49   ` Phillip Wood
2025-12-02 15:43     ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-01-15 15:17   ` Andreas Schwab
2025-01-15 16:24     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 2/3] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 18:19 ` [PATCH 3/3] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-01-14 22:50 ` [PATCH 0/3] Sanitize sideband channel messages brian m. carlson
2025-01-16  6:45   ` Junio C Hamano
2025-01-28 16:03     ` Ondrej Pohorelsky
2025-01-31 17:55       ` Junio C Hamano
2025-12-02 14:11     ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-03  0:47       ` brian m. carlson
2025-12-03  8:04         ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-01-15 14:49 ` Phillip Wood
2025-12-02 14:56   ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23 ` [PATCH v2 0/4] " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 1/4] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 19:29       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 2/4] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2025-12-18  2:22     ` Junio C Hamano
2025-12-18 17:59       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-19 13:33         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 19:25           ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 3/4] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 19:38       ` Johannes Schindelin
2025-12-17 14:23   ` [PATCH v2 4/4] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-09 12:38     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-10 17:26       ` brian m. carlson
2026-01-15 21:14         ` Jeff King
2026-01-15 21:36           ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-15 23:12             ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16  6:45               ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-16 12:12                 ` Ondrej Pohorelsky
2026-01-16 15:21                   ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 18:46                     ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16 19:24                       ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-19  7:20                     ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-19 22:16                       ` brian m. carlson
2026-01-20  2:41                         ` D. Ben Knoble
2026-01-20 17:05                         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-20 19:31                           ` Jeff King
2026-01-20 20:11                             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-21  7:39                           ` Patrick Steinhardt
2026-01-22 12:29                           ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-22 17:58                             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-15 23:10           ` brian m. carlson
2026-02-03  1:11             ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-03  7:12               ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-02-03 19:00                 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-04 19:35               ` Junio C Hamano
2026-01-16 19:47       ` Johannes Schindelin
2026-01-16 22:26   ` [PATCH v3 0/5] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 1/5] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 2/5] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 3/5] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 4/5] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:26     ` [PATCH v3 5/5] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-01-16 22:32     ` [PATCH v3 0/5] Sanitize sideband channel messages Johannes Schindelin
2026-02-03 10:17     ` Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget [this message]
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 1/6] sideband: mask control characters Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 2/6] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:17       ` [PATCH v4 3/6] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:18       ` [PATCH v4 4/6] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:18       ` [PATCH v4 5/6] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-03 10:18       ` [PATCH v4 6/6] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget
2026-02-04 19:26       ` [PATCH v4 0/6] Sanitize sideband channel messages Junio C Hamano
2026-02-05 14:48         ` Junio C Hamano
2026-02-13 23:50           ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11         ` [PATCH 0/3] Sanitizing sideband output Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 1/3] sideband: drop 'default' configuration Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 2/3] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Junio C Hamano
2026-03-02 18:11           ` [PATCH 3/3] sideband: conditional documentation fix Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34       ` [PATCH v5 0/7] Sanitizing sideband output Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 1/7] sideband: mask control characters Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 2/7] sideband: introduce an "escape hatch" to allow " Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 3/7] sideband: do allow ANSI color sequences by default Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 4/7] sideband: add options to allow more control sequences to be passed through Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 5/7] sideband: offer to configure sanitizing on a per-URL basis Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 6/7] sideband: drop 'default' configuration Junio C Hamano
2026-03-05 23:34         ` [PATCH v5 7/7] sideband: delay sanitizing by default to Git v3.0 Junio C Hamano

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