GitLabApplication
CVE-2019-6781
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 Improper Input Validation issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition before 11.5.8, 11.6.x before 11.6.6, and 11.7.x before 11.7.1. It was possible to use the profile name to inject a potentially malicious link into notification emails.
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 · moderate confidenceImproper input validation in GitLab allows users to inject malicious links via their profile name into notification emails. This is an email-based injection vulnerability where unsanitized profile name input is rendered in email content.
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
>= 11.5.0, < 11.5.10>= 11.6.0, < 11.6.8>= 11.7.0, < 11.7.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine installed GitLab versionRun `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin dashboard under /admin/application_settings or look at /opt/gitlab/version-manifest.txtAffected if Version falls within 11.5.0 to 11.5.9, 11.6.0 to 11.6.7, or 11.7.0 to 11.7.2
-
Verify email notifications are enabledCheck GitLab settings at /admin/application_settings under the Email section, or review gitlab.yml configuration file for outgoing email settingsAffected if Email notifications are enabled and the instance sends notification emails to users
-
Inspect user profile names for unsanitized contentQuery the users table in the GitLab database for profile names containing HTML tags or suspicious characters: `SELECT name, email FROM users WHERE name LIKE '%<%' OR name LIKE '%>%' OR name LIKE '%javascript:%';`Affected if Any user profile names contain HTML tags, script tags, or javascript: protocol handlers that could be rendered in email content
Your environment is affected if GitLab version is 11.5.0-11.5.9, 11.6.0-11.6.7, or 11.7.0-11.7.2 AND email notifications are active, with any user profile names containing unsanitized HTML or script content.
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 data11.5.1011.6.811.7.3
Upgrade GitLab to version 11.5.8, 11.6.6, 11.7.1 or later. Alternatively, implement input validation/sanitization on the profile name field to strip or escape HTML/special characters before embedding in email notifications.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-6781 — 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-2019-6781 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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