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GitLabApplication

CVE-2020-10078

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.8.1 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
GitLab 12.1 through 12.8.1 allows XSS. The merge request submission form was determined to have a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability.

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 confidence

A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the merge request submission form of GitLab versions 12.1 through 12.8.1. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript payloads into merge request fields that persist on the page, executing in the browsers of users who view the affected merge requests.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 12.8.2 or later. Alternatively, apply any available security patches from GitLab. Review merge request inputs for existing malicious 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
Affected:>= 12.1.0, <= 12.8.1

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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. Identify your GitLab installation method
    Determine if GitLab was installed via Omnibus package (common), source, or Docker. For Omnibus, check /opt/gitlab/version; for source, check the gitlab-version file or git command in the installation directory.
    Affected if Any installation method applies, but version detection varies by method.
  2. Determine the installed GitLab version
    Run the command appropriate to your installation: Omnibus: cat /opt/gitlab/version | head -1; Docker: docker exec <container> gitlab-ctl version; Source: cat gitlab-version in the gitlab directory; or access the Admin area > Dashboard in the web UI and check the version number displayed.
    Affected if The version displayed must be >= 12.1.0 and <= 12.8.1 to be affected.
  3. Compare version against the affected range
    Review the detected version number and confirm it falls within the range 12.1.0 through 12.8.1 inclusive. Versions below 12.1.0 or above 12.8.1 are not affected by this specific CVE.
    Affected if Version is exactly within 12.1.0 <= version <= 12.8.1.
  4. Verify merge request functionality is exposed
    Confirm that the GitLab instance accepts merge request submissions. This vulnerability applies to the merge request submission form. Check if any projects have merge requests enabled in Settings > General > Visibility settings.
    Affected if Merge request functionality is enabled and the instance processes merge request submissions.
  5. Inspect existing merge requests for suspicious content (optional)
    Review recent merge request titles, descriptions, and branch names via the web UI or API (GET /projects/:id/merge_requests) for any unexpected script tags, javascript: URIs, or other XSS vectors. Look for patterns like <script>, onload=, onerror=, javascript:.
    Affected if Malicious content exists in any merge request field, indicating potential exploitation.

You are affected if your GitLab version is 12.1.0 through 12.8.1 and merge requests can be submitted on your instance.

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 12.8.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 12.8.2 or later. Alternatively, apply any available security patches from GitLab. Review merge request inputs for existing malicious content.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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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-2020-10078 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