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GitLabApplication

CVE-2018-17455

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.1.7 / 11.2.4 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An issue was discovered in GitLab Enterprise Edition before 11.1.7, 11.2.x before 11.2.4, and 11.3.x before 11.3.1. Attackers could obtain sensitive information about group names, avatars, LDAP settings, and descriptions via an insecure direct object reference to the "merge request approvals" feature.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

An Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in GitLab Enterprise Edition's merge request approvals feature allows unauthorized attackers to access sensitive group information including names, avatars, LDAP settings, and descriptions. This is a HIGH severity (CVSS 7.5) information disclosure issue affecting versions 11.1.x before 11.1.7, 11.2.x before 11.2.4, and 11.3.x before 11.3.1.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab Enterprise Edition to version 11.1.7, 11.2.4, 11.3.1 or later. Alternatively, if upgrading is not immediately feasible, review access controls on the merge request approvals API endpoints and implement additional authorization checks.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
GitLabApplication
Affected:< 11.1.7>= 11.2.0, < 11.2.4= 11.3.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under /admin/application_settings to see the exact version number installed
    Affected if The version falls within < 11.1.7, >= 11.2.0 and < 11.2.4, or equals 11.3.0
  2. Confirm GitLab edition is Enterprise Edition
    Check the GitLab admin panel or run `grep -i 'gitlab-ee' /opt/gitlab/version-manifest.txt` (path may vary based on install method). The vulnerability affects only Enterprise Edition
    Affected if The installation is GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE), not Community Edition (CE)
  3. Verify merge request approvals feature is in use
    Check if any projects have merge request approvals configured by visiting a project's Settings > Merge request approvals or querying the approvals API endpoint at /api/v4/projects/:id/approvals
    Affected if The merge request approvals feature is enabled and configured for at least one project
  4. Test API endpoint for unauthorized access
    Attempt to access the merge request approvals API endpoint for a project where the requesting user lacks proper permissions, for example: `curl -H "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <user_token>" https://gitlab-instance/api/v4/projects/:id/approvals` without being a project member or approver
    Affected if The API returns sensitive group information (group name, avatar URL, LDAP settings, description) without proper authorization validation

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable GitLab Enterprise Edition version (11.1.x < 11.1.7, 11.2.x < 11.2.4, or 11.3.0) with the merge request approvals feature accessible to users who should not have access to approval details.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.1.7 / 11.2.4 or later
Fixed in 11.1.711.2.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab Enterprise Edition to version 11.1.7, 11.2.4, 11.3.1 or later. Alternatively, if upgrading is not immediately feasible, review access controls on the merge request approvals API endpoints and implement additional authorization checks.

Recommended fix High confidence

GitLab 11.3.1 (or 11.2.4/11.1.7 depending on current branch)

  1. Back up your GitLab instance data and configuration
  2. Stop the GitLab service
  3. Update GitLab to version 11.3.1 (or the appropriate fixed version for your branch: 11.1.7 for 11.1.x, 11.2.4 for 11.2.x, or 11.3.1 for 11.3.x)
  4. Run 'gitlab-ctl reconfigure' to apply changes
  5. Run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:db:migrate' if needed for database migrations
  6. Restart the GitLab service with 'gitlab-ctl restart'
  7. Verify the upgrade was successful and test the merge request approvals feature
Caveat Review GitLab upgrade notes for potential breaking changes between versions; test in staging first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-17455 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data