GitLabApplication
CVE-2019-19629
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 · uneditedIn GitLab EE 10.5 through 12.5.3, 12.4.5, and 12.3.8, when transferring a public project to a private group, private code would be disclosed via the Group Search API provided by the Elasticsearch integration.
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 confidenceIn GitLab EE versions 10.5 through 12.5.3, 12.4.5, and 12.3.8, when a public project is transferred to a private group with the Elasticsearch integration enabled, the Group Search API improperly exposes private code that should remain confidential. This occurs because the Elasticsearch index retains access to the project's code even after the project visibility changes.
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
>= 10.5.0, <= 12.3.8>= 12.4.0, <= 12.4.5>= 12.5.0, <= 12.5.3CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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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Verify GitLab version is within affected rangeCheck your installed GitLab version (typically via Admin Area > Dashboard or gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info) and confirm it is 10.5.0-12.3.8, 12.4.0-12.4.5, or 12.5.0-12.5.3Affected if Installed version falls within any of the affected version ranges
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Confirm Elasticsearch integration is enabledNavigate to Admin Area > Settings > Integrations > Elasticsearch or check via gitlab-rails console: ::Gitlab::Elastic::Helper.enabled?Affected if Elasticsearch integration is enabled in the GitLab instance
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Identify public projects transferred to private groupsReview project transfer logs or audit events to locate any public projects that were moved to private groups (Admin Area > Projects > transferred projects, or check audit logs for 'transfer' events)Affected if Any public projects were transferred to private groups while Elasticsearch was enabled
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Test Group Search API for code exposureUsing an authenticated user who should only have access to private projects, query the Group Search API (GET /api/v4/groups/:id/search?scope=blobs) for keywords present in the transferred project's code that should now be privateAffected if The search API returns results containing code from projects that should be private after the transfer
Your environment is affected if you run a vulnerable GitLab version with Elasticsearch enabled AND have transferred any public projects to private groups, as the Group Search API may return code that should be confidential.
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 dataUpgrade GitLab to a patched version (12.6.2, 12.5.6, or 12.4.6+) or disable the Elasticsearch integration as a temporary workaround until the upgrade can be completed.
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-2019-19629 — 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-2019-19629 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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