No, the opposite:

    git clone --recursive some/repo.git
    cd repo/subrepo
    sed -i"" s/hello/goodbye/ README.md
    git commit -am 'lololo'
    cd ..
    git commit -am'subrepo with *local* sha reference'
    git status  # everything is clean!

now that I know that can happen, running `git submodule foreach git status` will surface the "your branch is ahead of" magic text that indicates what has gone on, but it would be tons better if the system understood what was happening and didn't allow such a bad outcome