GitLabApplication
CVE-2021-22190
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 · uneditedA path traversal vulnerability via the GitLab Workhorse in all versions of GitLab could result in the leakage of a JWT token
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 confidenceA path traversal vulnerability exists in GitLab Workhorse across all versions, allowing attackers to traverse directories and access sensitive files containing JWT tokens through specially crafted requests.
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
>= 13.7.0, < 13.7.8>= 13.8.0, < 13.8.5>= 13.9.0, < 13.9.2CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed GitLab versionRun 'gitlab-rake gitlab:version' or 'gitlab-ctl version' to retrieve the installed GitLab version numberAffected if The version falls within any of these ranges: 13.7.0 to 13.7.7, 13.8.0 to 13.8.4, or 13.9.0 to 13.9.1
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Confirm Workhorse component is presentVerify that GitLab Workhorse is installed as part of the GitLab deployment - it is included by default in standard GitLab installationsAffected if Workhorse is installed as the reverse proxy/frontend component
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Check for suspicious path traversal requestsReview web server and GitLab logs for requests containing sequences like '../' or absolute paths pointing outside the expected document root, particularly those targeting files that may contain JWT tokensAffected if Such path traversal requests are found in access logs targeting sensitive configuration or token files
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Identify exposed JWT token filesExamine the GitLab data directory for JWT token configuration files that could be accessed via path traversal - check files in /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/config or similar configuration directoriesAffected if JWT configuration files exist and are readable by the Workhorse process without proper path validation
You are affected if your installed GitLab version is 13.7.0-13.7.7, 13.8.0-13.8.4, or 13.9.0-13.9.1 and an attacker can send path traversal requests to your GitLab instance.
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 data13.7.813.8.513.9.2
Update GitLab to the latest patched version that includes the path traversal fix in the Workhorse component.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22190 — 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-2021-22190 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
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