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GitLabApplication

CVE-2019-5883

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-05-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.3.11 / 11.4.8 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
An Incorrect Access Control issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition 6.0 and later but before 11.3.11, 11.4.x before 11.4.8, and 11.5.x before 11.5.1. The issue comments feature could allow a user to comment on an issue which they shouldn't be allowed to.

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 contains an incorrect access control vulnerability in its issue comments feature that allows authenticated users to comment on issues they should not have permission to access. This is a broken access control vulnerability where authorization checks are not properly enforced when creating comments on protected issues.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 11.3.11, 11.4.8, 11.5.1 or later to resolve the authorization bypass in the issue comments feature.

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:>= 6.0.0, < 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 GitLab version
    Run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or check the version file in the GitLab installation directory (e.g., /opt/gitlab/version for Omnibus installations, or /home/git/gitlab/VERSION for source installations)
    Affected if The version shown falls within any of these ranges: >= 6.0.0 and < 11.3.11, >= 11.4.0 and < 11.4.8, or >= 11.5.0 and < 11.5.1
  2. Confirm issue tracking is enabled
    Log into GitLab as an administrator and navigate to Admin Area > Settings > General > Visibility and access controls. Verify that the Issues feature is enabled for the instance or relevant projects
    Affected if The Issues feature is enabled and the GitLab version is in the affected ranges listed above
  3. Test authorization boundary (optional)
    Create two separate users. Have User A create a private project with an issue. As User B (who has no access to that private project), attempt to add a comment to that issue via API or direct URL if known
    Affected if User B can successfully post a comment on the issue despite having no project access - this confirms the vulnerability is exploitable

If your GitLab version falls within 6.0.0 to 11.3.10, 11.4.0 to 11.4.7, or 11.5.0, and the Issues feature is enabled, your instance is affected by this broken access control flaw.

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 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 resolve the authorization bypass in the issue comments feature.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 11.5.1 or later (recommended: latest stable 11.x release or migrate to a supported version like 12.x/13.x)

  1. 1. Backup your GitLab instance data and configuration before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. 2. Identify your current GitLab version by navigating to the GitLab admin area or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  3. 3. Plan your upgrade path based on your current version: if below 11.3.0, upgrade through intermediate versions to 11.5.1 or later; if between 11.3.x and 11.4.x, upgrade to 11.4.8 or later; if between 11.5.0, upgrade to 11.5.1 or later
  4. 4. For GitLab installations using Omnibus, run `apt-get update && apt-get install gitlab-ce` (or `gitlab-ee` for Enterprise Edition)
  5. 5. For source installations, follow the upgrade documentation at https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/
  6. 6. After upgrade, run `gitlab-ctl reconfigure` and verify the new version with `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  7. 7. Test the issue comments functionality to confirm the access control fix is working correctly
Caveat Review GitLab upgrade notes for potential breaking changes between your current version and target version; some database migrations may require downtime

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2019-5883 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