GitLabApplication
CVE-2018-19572
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 · uneditedGitLab CE 8.17 and later and EE 8.3 and later have a symlink time-of-check-to-time-of-use race condition that would allow unauthorized access to files in the GitLab Pages chroot environment. This is fixed in versions 11.5.1, 11.4.8, and 11.3.11.
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 confidenceA time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition exists in GitLab CE 8.17+ and EE 8.3+ involving symlink handling within the GitLab Pages chroot environment. An attacker could exploit the race between symlink validation and usage to gain unauthorized access to sensitive files outside the intended chroot directory.
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
>= 8.3.0, < 11.3.11>= 8.17.0, < 11.3.11>= 11.3.12, < 11.4.8>= 11.4.9, < 11.5.1CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed GitLab versionRun 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or check '/opt/gitlab/version' file to obtain the exact GitLab version installedAffected if The version is within one of the affected ranges: >= 8.3.0 and < 11.3.11, or >= 11.3.12 and < 11.4.8, or >= 11.4.9 and < 11.5.1
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Verify if GitLab Pages is enabledCheck the GitLab configuration file at '/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb' for the 'pages_external_url' setting, or run 'gitlab-ctl status' to see if the pages daemon is runningAffected if GitLab Pages is enabled and the version is within the affected ranges listed above
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Check Pages daemon symlink configurationReview the GitLab Pages configuration by examining '/var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-pages/config' or running 'gitlab-ctl tail gitlab-pages' to observe the current symlink handling behaviorAffected if Pages daemon is active and the installed version is vulnerable (within the affected version ranges)
The environment is affected if GitLab Pages is enabled and the installed version falls within the affected version ranges (8.3.0 to 11.3.10, 11.3.12 to 11.4.7, or 11.4.9 to 11.5.0).
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 data11.3.1111.4.811.5.1
Upgrade GitLab to version 11.5.1, 11.4.8, or 11.3.11 or later to receive the patch that addresses the symlink race condition. Alternatively, implement atomic symlink validation in the Pages daemon to prevent the TOCTOU vulnerability.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-19572 — 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-2018-19572 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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