GitLabApplication
CVE-2021-22226
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 · uneditedUnder certain conditions, some users were able to push to protected branches that were restricted to deploy keys in GitLab CE/EE since version 13.9
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 confidenceGitLab CE/EE versions 13.9 and later contained a broken access control vulnerability where users could bypass protected branch restrictions intended to limit pushes to deploy keys only. Under certain conditions, unauthorized users could push commits to protected branches that were configured to reject user pushes.
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
>= 13.9.0, < 13.11.6>= 13.12.0, < 13.12.6>= 14.0.0, < 14.0.2CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 GitLab versionNavigate to the GitLab admin area (Admin Dashboard) and look at the version information, or run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` command to display version detailsAffected if The installed version falls within: 13.9.0 to 13.11.5, 13.12.0 to 13.12.5, or 14.0.0 to 14.0.1
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Identify protected branchesGo to the repository settings of each project, navigate to Settings > Repository > Protected branches, or use the API endpoint `GET /projects/:id/protected_branches`Affected if The project has any protected branches defined
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Review protected branch push settingsExamine each protected branch configuration to determine the 'Push access level' setting. Look for branches where Push is set to 'No one', 'Maintainers only', or 'Developers + Maintainers' (not 'Maintainers + Developers')Affected if Any protected branch has Push access level restricted to deny regular user pushes (configured to reject pushes from users, allowing only deploy keys)
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Audit push logs for protected branchesReview GitLab audit logs (Project > Security Dashboard > Audit Events) or Git logs for commits on protected branches. Check the user who pushed and compare against expected authorized users/deploy keysAffected if Commits appear in protected branches from users who should not have had push permission according to the branch protection rules
The environment is potentially affected if GitLab version is within the vulnerable ranges AND protected branches exist with restricted push access that should only permit deploy keys.
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 data13.11.613.12.614.0.2
Upgrade GitLab to the patched version; review protected branch configurations and audit logs for any unauthorized pushes to affected branches.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22226 — 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-2021-22226 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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