GitLabApplication
CVE-2020-13283
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 · uneditedFor GitLab before 13.0.12, 13.1.6, 13.2.3 a cross-site scripting vulnerability exists in the issues list via milestone title.
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 confidenceA stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in GitLab allows authenticated users to inject malicious JavaScript code through milestone titles. When other users view the issues list, the injected payload executes in their browsers, potentially allowing session hijacking or data theft.
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
>= 10.8.0, < 13.0.12>= 13.1.0, < 13.1.6>= 13.2.0, < 13.2.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed GitLab versionLog into the GitLab admin panel and navigate to the Admin Area > Settings > Overview page, or run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` from the server console to retrieve the exact version number.Affected if The installed version falls within 10.8.0 to 13.0.11, 13.1.0 to 13.1.5, or 13.2.0 to 13.2.2.
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Verify milestone feature is enabledNavigate to any project in GitLab and check if the Milestones section is accessible under the Issues menu. Milestones are enabled by default in GitLab.Affected if Milestones are accessible (default state).
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Inspect existing milestones for malicious payloadsAccess the GitLab Rails console and query: `Milestone.where("title ILIKE '%<script%' OR title ILIKE '%javascript:%' OR title ILIKE '%onerror=%'")`. Alternatively, list all milestones via the API at /api/v4/milestones and manually inspect title fields.Affected if Any milestone title contains HTML tags, JavaScript protocols, or event handlers (e.g., <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=).
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Review web server logs for XSS injection attemptsSearch GitLab production logs (typically at /var/log/gitlab/gitlab-rails/production.log) for requests to milestone endpoints containing suspicious patterns in the title parameter.Affected if Logs contain POST/PATCH requests to milestone creation/update with XSS payload patterns in the title parameter.
A user is affected if their GitLab version is within the vulnerable ranges AND the milestone feature is active (default), with potential exposure if any milestones contain malicious script tags in their titles.
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 data13.0.1213.1.613.2.3
Upgrade GitLab to version 13.0.12, 13.1.6, 13.2.3 or later to patch the vulnerability. Until upgraded, restrict milestone creation permissions and warn users not to click on suspicious milestone links.
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-2020-13283 — 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-2020-13283 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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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