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GitLabApplication

CVE-2019-18455

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.4.0 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
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition 11 through 12.4 when building Nested GraphQL queries. It has a large or infinite loop.

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

GitLab versions 11 through 12.4 contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in its GraphQL API where nested GraphQL queries can trigger a large or infinite loop, causing excessive resource consumption and potential service unavailability.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to the latest patched version (12.4.1 or later) to resolve the infinite loop vulnerability in nested GraphQL query processing.

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:>= 11.0.0, <= 12.4.0

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run 'sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or check /opt/gitlab/version, or view the version in the GitLab admin area footer
    Affected if The version falls within 11.0.0 to 12.4.0 inclusive
  2. Confirm GraphQL API is accessible
    Attempt to reach the GraphQL endpoint at https://your-gitlab-instance/api/graphql (or /-/graphql in newer versions) using curl or a browser
    Affected if The endpoint responds, indicating GraphQL is enabled (GraphQL is enabled by default in affected versions)
  3. Check if GraphQL is explicitly disabled
    Review GitLab configuration file /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb for 'gitlab_rails["graphql_enabled"] = false' or check via admin settings at /admin/application_settings/advanced (GraphQL tab in older versions)
    Affected if GraphQL is enabled (not explicitly disabled) and version is in affected range

You are affected if your GitLab version is between 11.0.0 and 12.4.0 inclusive and the GraphQL API is enabled (the default state).

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 a release after 12.4.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to the latest patched version (12.4.1 or later) to resolve the infinite loop vulnerability in nested GraphQL query processing.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-18455 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