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GitLabApplication

CVE-2021-22168

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.5.6 / 13.6.4 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
A regular expression denial of service issue has been discovered in NuGet API affecting all versions of GitLab starting from version 12.8.

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 regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) vulnerability exists in the NuGet API component of GitLab, affecting all versions starting from 12.8. The vulnerable regex can be triggered by specially crafted input to cause excessive computation, leading to service degradation or unavailability.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to the latest version that includes the patched NuGet API component, or apply the specific security patch for this vulnerability.

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:>= 12.8.0, < 13.5.6>= 13.6.0, < 13.6.4>= 13.7.0, < 13.7.2

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or check the version file at '/opt/gitlab/version' on the GitLab server. Alternatively, access Admin Area > Settings > General in the web UI and scroll to the GitLab version section.
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 12.8.0 to 13.5.5, 13.6.0 to 13.6.3, or 13.7.0 to 13.7.1.
  2. Verify NuGet Package Registry is enabled
    Navigate to Admin Area > Settings > Package Registry, or query the API at GET /api/v4/application/settings to check the 'nuget_enabled' setting.
    Affected if The NuGet Package Registry feature is enabled on the instance.
  3. Confirm NuGet API endpoint is accessible
    Attempt to access the NuGet API endpoint at /api/v4/packages/nuget or the instance's configured NuGet registry URL.
    Affected if The NuGet API responds, indicating the vulnerable component is active and reachable.

You are affected if your GitLab version is 12.8.0-13.5.5, 13.6.0-13.6.3, or 13.7.0-13.7.1 AND the NuGet Package Registry is enabled and 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 13.5.6 / 13.6.4 / 13.7.2 or later
Fixed in 13.5.613.6.413.7.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to the latest version that includes the patched NuGet API component, or apply the specific security patch for this vulnerability.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-22168 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