GitLabApplication

CVE-2020-10086

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.8.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
GitLab 10.4 through 12.8.1 allows Directory Traversal. A particular endpoint was vulnerable to a directory traversal vulnerability, leading to arbitrary file read.

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

GitLab versions 10.4 through 12.8.1 contain a directory traversal vulnerability in a specific endpoint that allows authenticated or unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on the host system by manipulating file paths with traversal sequences (e.g., ../../).

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 12.8.2 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to the vulnerable endpoint and implement Web Application Firewall rules to block directory traversal patterns.

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:>= 10.4.0, <= 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-ctl version` or check the GitLab admin panel at /admin/about. Alternatively, inspect the version file at /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/VERSION
    Affected if The displayed version falls within the range >= 10.4.0 and <= 12.8.1
  2. Confirm the vulnerable endpoint is reachable
    Verify network accessibility to the GitLab instance on its HTTP/HTTPS ports. The vulnerability exists in a specific endpoint that accepts file path parameters.
    Affected if The GitLab instance is network-accessible without strict firewall rules blocking external requests
  3. Check if anonymous or unauthenticated access is permitted
    Attempt to access the vulnerable endpoint without providing credentials, or review GitLab settings at /admin/application_settings/general to see if sign-up or anonymous access is enabled.
    Affected if Anonymous or unauthenticated users can reach the affected endpoint, or the instance allows open registration

Your environment is affected if the installed GitLab version is between 10.4.0 and 12.8.1 inclusive AND the vulnerable endpoint is network-accessible.

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. If immediate patching is not feasible, restrict network access to the vulnerable endpoint and implement Web Application Firewall rules to block directory traversal patterns.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10086 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10086 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