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GitLabApplication

CVE-2018-19581

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.3.11 / 11.4.8 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
GitLab EE, versions 8.3 up to 11.x before 11.3.11, 11.4 before 11.4.8, and 11.5 before 11.5.1, is vulnerable to an insecure object reference vulnerability that allows a Guest user to set the weight of an issue they create.

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

This is an Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability in GitLab EE where a Guest user (who should have read-only access) can set the weight attribute on issues they create. The application fails to properly authorize the weight field modification, allowing a low-privilege user to modify an attribute they should not have access to.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 11.3.11, 11.4.8, 11.5.1 or later to receive the patched code that properly validates authorization for issue weight modifications.

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:>= 8.3.0, < 11.3.11>= 11.4.0, < 11.4.8>= 11.5.0, < 11.5.1

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under Admin Area > Overview > Dashboard. The version is typically displayed in the footer of the web interface as well.
    Affected if The installed version falls within these ranges: 8.3.0 to 11.3.10, 11.4.0 to 11.4.7, or 11.5.0 to 11.5.0 (meaning any version before the patches 11.3.11, 11.4.8, or 11.5.1)
  2. Confirm Issue Board/Weights feature is enabled
    Navigate to Admin Area > Settings > Issue Board or check the gitlab_rails['gitlab_issue_weights_enabled'] setting in /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb. The vulnerability only affects environments where the issue weights feature is turned on.
    Affected if Issue weights feature is enabled in GitLab settings
  3. Verify Guest or External user access is permitted
    Check Admin Area > Settings > General > Sign-up restrictions and visibility and access settings. Determine if guest users or external users are allowed to create or interact with projects.
    Affected if Guest users or external users are allowed access to any project where they can create issues
  4. Test Guest user ability to set issue weight
    Log in as a user with Guest role, create a new issue in a project, and attempt to set a value in the Weight field. Alternatively, inspect the API endpoint PUT /projects/:id/issues/:issue_id for authorization headers when weight is included in the request.
    Affected if A Guest user can successfully set a weight value on an issue they have access to

You are affected if your GitLab version is in the vulnerable ranges AND guest/external users have access to projects AND the issue weights feature is enabled, allowing low-privilege users to modify an attribute they should not be able to change.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 11.3.11 / 11.4.8 / 11.5.1 or later
Fixed in 11.3.1111.4.811.5.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 11.3.11, 11.4.8, 11.5.1 or later to receive the patched code that properly validates authorization for issue weight modifications.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2018-19581 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