Subject: [PATCH v2] clone: fix segfault when using --revision and v0/v1 protocol

From: "NitroCao via GitGitGadget" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:56:13 +0000

From: Nitro Cao <[email-masked]>

When `git clone` is used with `--revision` and the protocol version is
v0 or v1, the client segfaults if the revision does not specify a peer
reference (e.g. `--revision master` instead of
`--revision refs/heads/master:master`).

This occurs because `update_remote_refs()` assumes that if
`remote_head_points_at` is set, `remote_head_points_at->peer_ref` is
also valid. However, for v0/v1 protocols, all references are fetched
without filtering, and if the revision lacks a peer reference,
`peer_ref` remains NULL.

Add a check for `remote_head_points_at->peer_ref` before dereferencing
it to prevent the segmentation fault.

Signed-off-by: Nitro Cao <[email-masked]>
---
    fix(clone): segment fault when using --revision and protocol v0/v1
    
    git clone command would segment fault when satisfying the following
    conditions at the same time:
    
     * Use HTTP protocol v0 or v1 to interact with remote servers.
     * The value of --revision doesn't specify the peer reference, like
       --revision master instead of --revision refs/heads/master:master
    
    When using protocol v2, git client can use ref-prefix param of ls-refs
    command to fetch wanted references based on --revision. But for protocol
    v0/v1, git client just fetch all references and doesn't filter them. In
    this case, the value of remote_head variable is not NULL, which leads to
    the value of remote_head_points_at not NULL too. But we don't specify
    the peer reference in --revsion, remote_head_points_at->peer_ref would
    be NULL. So git client would boom when update_remote_refs.

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-2185%2FNitroCao%2Ffix%2Fsegment-fault-with-revision-param-v2
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-2185/NitroCao/fix/segment-fault-with-revision-param-v2
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/2185

Range-diff vs v1:

 1:  f75b1f7e2e ! 1:  b3ab27f977 fix(clone): segment fault when using --revision and protocol v0/v1
     @@ Metadata
      Author: Nitro Cao <[email-masked]>
      
       ## Commit message ##
     -    fix(clone): segment fault when using --revision and protocol v0/v1
     +    clone: fix segfault when using --revision and v0/v1 protocol
      
     -    git clone command would segment fault when satisfying the following
     -    conditions at the same time:
     -      - Use HTTP protocol v0 or v1 to interact with remote servers.
     -      - The value of `--revision` doesn't specify the peer reference, like
     -        `--revision master` instead of `--revision refs/heads/master:master`
     +    When `git clone` is used with `--revision` and the protocol version is
     +    v0 or v1, the client segfaults if the revision does not specify a peer
     +    reference (e.g. `--revision master` instead of
     +    `--revision refs/heads/master:master`).
      
     -    When using protocol v2, git client can use `ref-prefix` param of
     -    `ls-refs` command to fetch wanted references based on `--revision`.
     -    But for protocol v0/v1, git client just fetch all references and
     -    doesn't filter them.
     -    In this case, the value of `remote_head` variable is not NULL,
     -    which leads to the value of `remote_head_points_at` not NULL too.
     -    But we don't specify the peer reference in `--revsion`,
     -    `remote_head_points_at->peer_ref` would be NULL. So git client would
     -    boom when `update_remote_refs`.
     +    This occurs because `update_remote_refs()` assumes that if
     +    `remote_head_points_at` is set, `remote_head_points_at->peer_ref` is
     +    also valid. However, for v0/v1 protocols, all references are fetched
     +    without filtering, and if the revision lacks a peer reference,
     +    `peer_ref` remains NULL.
     +
     +    Add a check for `remote_head_points_at->peer_ref` before dereferencing
     +    it to prevent the segmentation fault.
      
          Signed-off-by: Nitro Cao <[email-masked]>

 builtin/clone.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/builtin/clone.c b/builtin/clone.c
index b40cee5968..ba8de92563 100644
--- a/builtin/clone.c
+++ b/builtin/clone.c
@@ -558,7 +558,7 @@ static void update_remote_refs(const struct ref *refs,
 			write_followtags(refs, msg);
 	}
 
-	if (remote_head_points_at && !option_bare) {
+	if (remote_head_points_at && remote_head_points_at->peer_ref && !option_bare) {
 		struct strbuf head_ref = STRBUF_INIT;
 		strbuf_addstr(&head_ref, branch_top);
 		strbuf_addstr(&head_ref, "HEAD");

base-commit: 67ad42147a7acc2af6074753ebd03d904476118f
-- 
gitgitgadget