GitLabApplication
CVE-2020-13272
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 · uneditedOAuth flow missing verification checks CE/EE 12.3 and later through 13.0.1 allows unverified user to use OAuth authorization code flow
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 confidenceThis GitLab vulnerability involves missing verification checks in the OAuth authorization code flow that allow unverified users to authenticate via OAuth, potentially bypassing email verification requirements that should be enforced before permitting OAuth-based account creation or linking.
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
>= 12.3.0, < 12.9.8>= 12.10.0, < 12.10.7= 13.0.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Determine your GitLab versionRun 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or access the Admin Area > Dashboard in the web UI to view the installed GitLab version.Affected if The installed version falls within 12.3.0 to 12.9.7, 12.10.0 to 12.10.6, or exactly 13.0.0
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Verify if OAuth providers are configuredNavigate to Admin Area > Settings > Authentication and Authorization > OAuth sign-in sources, or check the gitlab.yml configuration file for enabled OAuth providers.Affected if Any OAuth provider (such as Google, GitHub, GitLab.com, or other SAML/OIDC sources) is configured and enabled
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Confirm email verification is required for new usersCheck Admin Area > Settings > Sign-up restrictions to see if 'Send confirmation email' is enabled, or inspect the 'gitlab_rails[gitlab_signup_enabled]' setting in gitlab.rb/gitlab.yml.Affected if Email verification is NOT enforced (confirmation emails are disabled) while OAuth sign-in is available
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Check user account creation settingsReview Admin Area > Settings > General > Sign-up restrictions to determine if user sign-up is allowed and whether external providers can create accounts without email confirmation.Affected if External OAuth providers can create or link accounts without the system requiring email verification to complete
You are affected if your GitLab version is one of the vulnerable releases (12.3.0-12.9.7, 12.10.0-12.10.6, or 13.0.0) AND you have OAuth providers enabled while email verification is not enforced for new OAuth-linked accounts.
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 data12.9.812.10.7
Upgrade to GitLab 13.0.2 or later, or apply the available security patches to ensure proper verification checks are enforced in the OAuth flow before allowing unverified users to complete authentication.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-13272 — 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-2020-13272 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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