GitLabApplication
CVE-2019-15581
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 IDOR exists in < 12.3.2, < 12.2.6, and < 12.1.12 for GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) that allowed a project owner or maintainer to see the members of any private group via merge request approval rules.
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 confidenceAn IDOR in GitLab CE/EE versions prior to 12.3.2, 12.2.6, and 12.1.12 allows project owners or maintainers to view members of any private group through merge request approval rules by exploiting insufficient authorization checks on approval rule endpoints.
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
>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.12>= 12.2.0, < 12.2.6>= 12.3.0, < 12.3.2CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the Admin Area > Settings > General page in the web UI. Alternatively, check the version file at `/opt/gitlab/version` for omnibus installations.Affected if The version is 12.1.0 through 12.1.11, 12.2.0 through 12.2.5, or 12.3.0 through 12.3.1.
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Confirm GitLab edition (CE or EE)Check if you are running Community Edition (CE) or Enterprise Edition (EE) using `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or by reviewing your installation source.Affected if The edition is GitLab CE or EE and the version falls within the affected ranges.
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Verify Merge Request approval rules feature is in useNavigate to a project merge request settings or use the API endpoint `/projects/:id/approval_rules` to list approval rules. Check if any projects have custom approval rules configured.Affected if The approval rules feature is enabled and has at least one custom rule configured, creating the attack surface for this IDOR.
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Review audit logs for unauthorized group member accessIn the Admin Area, go to Monitoring > Audit Logs and filter events for `approval_rule` related actions. Look for unexpected access patterns where a user accessed approval rules for projects outside their normal group memberships.Affected if Audit logs show approval rule access from users who should not have visibility into certain private group memberships.
You are affected if your GitLab version is 12.1.0-12.1.11, 12.2.0-12.2.5, or 12.3.0-12.3.1 AND you have merge request approval rules configured.
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 data12.1.1212.2.612.3.2
Upgrade GitLab to version 12.3.2, 12.2.6, or 12.1.12 or later to patch the IDOR vulnerability in merge request approval rules.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15581 — 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-2019-15581 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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- 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
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