GitLabApplication
CVE-2018-17976
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in GitLab Community Edition 11.x before 11.1.8, 11.2.x before 11.2.5, and 11.3.x before 11.3.2. There is Information Exposure via Epic change descriptions.
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 confidenceIn GitLab Community Edition 11.x through 11.3.1, an information exposure vulnerability exists where Epic change descriptions can be accessed by unauthorized users. This allows users to view Epic metadata they should not have permission to see.
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
>= 11.0.0, < 11.1.8>= 11.2.0, < 11.2.5>= 11.3.0, < 11.3.2CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed GitLab versionRun `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin dashboard under Admin Area > Overview > Dashboard to find the running versionAffected if The version displayed is 11.0.0 to 11.1.7, 11.2.0 to 11.2.4, or 11.3.0 to 11.3.1 (i.e., it falls within any of these ranges: >=11.0.0/<11.1.8, >=11.2.0/<11.2.5, >=11.3.0/<11.3.2)
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Confirm Epics feature is enabledNavigate to Admin Area > Settings > General > Visibility and access controls, or check if Epics have been created in any project by browsing to a project's Issues menuAffected if Epics are enabled or have been created in the GitLab instance (the vulnerability only affects environments where Epics feature is active)
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Audit Epic visibility permissionsCreate a test user without Reporter, Developer, or Maintainer roles on a project containing Epics, then attempt to access Epic change descriptions via the API endpoint `/projects/:id/epics/:epic_id/notes` or through the web UIAffected if The unauthorized user can retrieve, view, or list Epic change descriptions they were not granted explicit access to view
You are affected if your GitLab version falls within the affected ranges (11.0.0-11.1.7, 11.2.0-11.2.4, or 11.3.0-11.3.1) AND the Epics feature is enabled, allowing unauthorized users to access Epic change descriptions.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor data11.1.811.2.511.3.2
Upgrade GitLab Community Edition to version 11.1.8, 11.2.5, 11.3.2 or later. These versions contain the fix for the improper access control on Epic change descriptions.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-17976 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-17976 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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