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[PATCH] submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuse

From
K Jayatheerth <jayatheerthkulkarni2005@gmail.com>
Date
May 10, 2025, 05:45 UTC
Message-ID
<20250510054542.556401-1-jayatheerthkulkarni2005@gmail.com>

When a submodule is added at a path that previously hosted another submodule (e.g., 'child'), Git reuses the submodule name derived from the path and updates the corresponding entry in .gitmodules. This can silently overwrite existing configuration if the old submodule was only moved (e.g., to 'child_old') without renaming the submodule.

This patch improves the `module_add()` logic by checking whether the submodule name already exists in the config but maps to a different path. In such a case, Git now errors out unless `--force` is specified, thus preventing accidental overwrites. To proceed safely, the user can provide a new name via `--name` or use `--force`.

Signed-off-by: K Jayatheerth <jayatheerthkulkarni2005@gmail.com>
---
 builtin/submodule--helper.c | 45 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------
 t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh  | 23 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 53da2116dd..0f98ef122b 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
 #include "advice.h"
 #include "branch.h"
 #include "list-objects-filter-options.h"
+#include "wildmatch.h"
+
 
 #define OPT_QUIET (1 << 0)
 #define OPT_CACHED (1 << 1)
@@ -3323,6 +3325,23 @@ static int config_submodule_in_gitmodules(const char *name, const char *var, con
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int submodule_active_matches_path(const char *path)
+{
+	const struct string_list *values;
+	size_t i;
+
+	if (git_config_get_string_multi("submodule.active", &values))
+		return 0;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < values->nr; i++) {
+		const char *pat = values->items[i].string;
+		if (!wildmatch(pat, path, 0))
+			return 1;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static void configure_added_submodule(struct add_data *add_data)
 {
 	char *key;
@@ -3370,17 +3389,7 @@ static void configure_added_submodule(struct add_data *add_data)
 	 * is_submodule_active(), since that function needs to find
 	 * out the value of "submodule.active" again anyway.
 	 */
-	if (!git_config_get("submodule.active")) {
-		/*
-		 * If the submodule being added isn't already covered by the
-		 * current configured pathspec, set the submodule's active flag
-		 */
-		if (!is_submodule_active(the_repository, add_data->sm_path)) {
-			key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.active", add_data->sm_name);
-			git_config_set_gently(key, "true");
-			free(key);
-		}
-	} else {
+	if (!submodule_active_matches_path(add_data->sm_path)) {
 		key = xstrfmt("submodule.%s.active", add_data->sm_name);
 		git_config_set_gently(key, "true");
 		free(key);
@@ -3443,6 +3452,7 @@ static int module_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	int force = 0, quiet = 0, progress = 0, dissociate = 0;
 	struct add_data add_data = ADD_DATA_INIT;
 	const char *ref_storage_format = NULL;
+	const struct submodule *existing;
 	char *to_free = NULL;
 	struct option options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING('b', "branch", &add_data.branch, N_("branch"),
@@ -3546,6 +3556,19 @@ static int module_add(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
 	if(!add_data.sm_name)
 		add_data.sm_name = add_data.sm_path;
 
+	existing = submodule_from_name(the_repository,
+					null_oid(the_hash_algo),
+					add_data.sm_name);
+
+	if (existing && strcmp(existing->path, add_data.sm_path)) {
+		if (!force) {
+			die(_("submodule name '%s' already used for path '%s' "
+			"(use --name to choose another or --force to overwrite)"),
+			add_data.sm_name, existing->path);
+		}
+		add_data.sm_name = xstrfmt("%s.%s", add_data.sm_name, basename(add_data.sm_path));
+	}
+
 	if (check_submodule_name(add_data.sm_name))
 		die(_("'%s' is not a valid submodule name"), add_data.sm_name);
 
diff --git a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
index d6a501d453..5c3f471338 100755
--- a/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
+++ b/t/t7400-submodule-basic.sh
@@ -1482,4 +1482,27 @@ test_expect_success '`submodule init` and `init.templateDir`' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'submodule add fails when name is reused' '
+	git init test-submodule &&
+	(
+		cd test-submodule &&
+		git commit --allow-empty -m "initial commit" &&
+
+		git init ../child-origin &&
+		git -C ../child-origin commit --allow-empty -m "initial commit" &&
+
+		git submodule add ../child-origin child &&
+		git commit -m "Add submodule child" &&
+
+		git mv child child_old &&
+		git commit -m "Move child to child_old" &&
+
+		# Create another submodule repo
+		git init ../child2-origin &&
+		git -C ../child2-origin commit --allow-empty -m "initial commit" &&
+
+		test_must_fail git submodule add ../child2-origin child
+	)
+'
+
 test_done
-- 
2.49.0.533.g80f4e02b4b
Next: JAYATHEERTH K
Message 1 of 24 in “submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuse”
  1. submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 10, 2025
  2. JAYATHEERTH KMay 10, 2025
  3. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  4. JAYATHEERTH KMay 12, 2025
  5. submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 13, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoMay 13, 2025
  7. submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 14, 2025
  8. Junio C HamanoMay 14, 2025
  9. JAYATHEERTH KMay 16, 2025
  10. submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 16, 2025
  11. JAYATHEERTH KMay 16, 2025
  12. submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 18, 2025
  13. JAYATHEERTH KMay 18, 2025
  14. Junio C HamanoMay 19, 2025
  15. JAYATHEERTH KMay 20, 2025
  16. Junio C HamanoMay 20, 2025
  17. 0/2 Avoid submodule overwritten and skip redundant active entriesK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025
  18. 1/2 submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025
  19. 2/2 submodule: skip redundant active entries when pattern covers pathK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025
  20. JAYATHEERTH KMay 24, 2025
  21. 0/2 Avoid submodule overwritten and skip redundant active entriesK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025
  22. 1/2 The seventeenth batchK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025
  23. JAYATHEERTH KMay 24, 2025
  24. 2/2 submodule: prevent overwriting .gitmodules entry on path reuseK Jayatheerth, May 24, 2025

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