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GitLabApplication

CVE-2019-15585

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.12 / 12.2.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Improper authentication exists in < 12.3.2, < 12.2.6, and < 12.1.12 for GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) in the GitLab SAML integration had a validation issue that permitted an attacker to takeover another user's account.

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

Improper validation in GitLab's SAML SSO integration allows attackers to manipulate SAML assertions and authenticate as arbitrary users, leading to full account takeover. This is a critical authentication bypass in the SAML identity provider (IdP) response validation.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 12.3.2, 12.2.6, or 12.1.12 or later. After upgrading, verify SAML authentication functions correctly and review audit logs for any suspicious account access.

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:>= 12.1.0, < 12.1.12>= 12.2.0, < 12.2.6>= 12.3.0, < 12.3.2

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
High
Availability
High

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

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 `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin dashboard under /help for the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 12.1.0 to 12.1.11, 12.2.0 to 12.2.5, or 12.3.0 to 12.3.1
  2. Verify SAML SSO is configured
    Check the GitLab admin area under Admin Area > Settings > SAML SSO, or inspect the gitlab.yml configuration file for SAML provider settings
    Affected if SAML Single Sign-On is enabled and an SAML Identity Provider (IdP) is configured in this GitLab instance
  3. Confirm SAML response validation is in use
    Review the SAML configuration to confirm that GitLab is processing incoming SAML responses from the IdP for user authentication
    Affected if Users authenticate to GitLab via SAML SSO rather than through built-in authentication or other OAuth providers

A GitLab instance is affected if it runs a version between 12.1.0-12.1.11, 12.2.0-12.2.5, or 12.3.0-12.3.1 AND has SAML SSO authentication enabled and configured.

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 12.1.12 / 12.2.6 / 12.3.2 or later
Fixed in 12.1.1212.2.612.3.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 12.3.2, 12.2.6, or 12.1.12 or later. After upgrading, verify SAML authentication functions correctly and review audit logs for any suspicious account access.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 12.3.2 (or 12.2.6 or 12.1.12 minimum)

  1. Backup your GitLab instance database and configuration before upgrading
  2. Ensure you have adequate downtime window for the upgrade process
  3. For installations using Omnibus GitLab: run 'gitlab-ctl stop', then update the package, then run 'gitlab-ctl start' or 'gitlab-ctl restart'
  4. For installations from source: stop GitLab services, pull the latest stable release tags, run bundle install and db:migrate, then restart services
  5. Verify the upgrade completed successfully by checking GitLab version with 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info'
  6. Confirm SAML authentication is functioning correctly after upgrade
Caveat Standard GitLab upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for between-version migration notes, particularly regarding database migrations and breaking changes between 12.1.x, 12.2.x, and 12.3.x

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
Get the upgrade done

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-2019-15585 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