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GitLabApplication

CVE-2021-22244

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.12.9 / 14.0.7 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
Improper authorization in the vulnerability report feature in GitLab EE affecting all versions since 13.1 allowed a reporter to access vulnerability data

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

Improper authorization in GitLab EE's vulnerability report feature allowed users with reporter-level permissions to access vulnerability data they should not have had access to, representing a vertical privilege escalation via authorization bypass.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to a patched version that addresses this authorization flaw in the vulnerability report feature.

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:>= 13.1.0, < 13.12.9>= 14.0.0, < 14.0.7>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm GitLab edition is Enterprise Edition (EE)
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the admin area UI under Admin > Overview > System Info. Look for 'GitLab Enterprise Edition' in the version string.
    Affected if The instance runs GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE). This vulnerability only affects EE, not Community Edition (CE).
  2. Identify the installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the footer of any GitLab page. The version appears as 'GitLab Enterprise Edition X.Y.Z' where X.Y.Z is the version number.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 13.1.0 to 13.12.8, 14.0.0 to 14.0.6, or 14.1.0 to 14.1.1.
  3. Verify the Vulnerability Report feature is accessible
    Navigate to a project as a user with Reporter role. Go to Security > Vulnerability Report in the left sidebar. Check if the page loads and displays vulnerability findings.
    Affected if The Vulnerability Report page loads and shows findings to a user with Reporter-level permissions, indicating the vulnerable feature is enabled.
  4. Check for users with Reporter role
    Navigate to Project > Settings > Members, or run API query `GET /projects/:id/members/all` to list users and their roles. Identify users assigned the Reporter role.
    Affected if There are users with Reporter role assigned to projects that contain security scanning results, as these users could exploit the authorization bypass.

You are affected if running GitLab EE in any of the affected version ranges and you have users with Reporter-level permissions accessing projects with vulnerability reports enabled.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 13.12.9 / 14.0.7 / 14.1.2 or later
Fixed in 13.12.914.0.714.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to a patched version that addresses this authorization flaw in the vulnerability report feature.

Recommended fix High confidence

13.12.9, 14.0.7, or 14.1.2 (depending on your current major/minor version)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data before upgrading
  2. 2. Review GitLab upgrade documentation for your current version
  3. 3. For GitLab 13.x: Upgrade to version 13.12.9 or later
  4. 4. For GitLab 14.0.x: Upgrade to version 14.0.7 or later
  5. 5. For GitLab 14.1.x: Upgrade to version 14.1.2 or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the vulnerability report feature works correctly and test that authorization controls are properly enforced
  7. 7. Monitor GitLab logs for any unusual access patterns

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

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

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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-2021-22244 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