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GitLabApplication

CVE-2021-22246

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.11.6 / 13.12.6 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 vulnerability was discovered in GitLab versions before 14.0.2, 13.12.6, 13.11.6. GitLab Webhook feature could be abused to perform denial of service attacks.

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 confidence

GitLab versions before 14.0.2, 13.12.6, and 13.11.6 contain a vulnerability in the Webhook feature that allows authenticated users to abuse webhook functionality to launch denial of service attacks, likely through excessive webhook creation or triggering that consumes excessive server resources.

MitigationUpdate GitLab to version 14.0.2, 13.12.6, or 13.11.6 or later. As a compensating control, restrict webhook creation/modification permissions to trusted users and implement rate limiting on webhook endpoints.

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:>= 2.0.0, < 13.11.6>= 13.12.0, < 13.12.6>= 14.0.0, < 14.0.2

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 `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under /admin/application_settings under the 'Information' section to find the exact version number
    Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 2.0.0 and < 13.11.6; >= 13.12.0 and < 13.12.6; >= 14.0.0 and < 14.0.2
  2. Verify webhook functionality is accessible
    Navigate to any project or group settings, then go to Webhooks (found under Settings > Webhooks for projects, or Settings > Webhooks for groups) to confirm the feature is available to authenticated users
    Affected if Authenticated users can access the webhook creation interface without additional restrictions
  3. Identify users with webhook creation permissions
    Check user roles and group/project membership permissions. Users with Developer, Maintainer, or Owner roles on any project or group can typically create or modify webhooks. Review this via the Admin Area > Users section and project/group member listings
    Affected if Any authenticated user with at least Developer-level access exists in the instance, as these users can create webhooks in vulnerable versions
  4. Audit existing webhook count
    Query the GitLab database: `sudo gitlab-rails console` then `WebHook.count` to see total webhooks, or use the API: `curl -s --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: <token>" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/hooks" | jq length` if you have admin API access
    Affected if A large number of webhooks exist, which may indicate exploitation of this vulnerability

You are affected if your GitLab version is below 13.11.6, between 13.12.0-13.12.5, or between 14.0.0-14.0.2 and your instance allows authenticated users to create webhooks.

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 13.11.6 / 13.12.6 / 14.0.2 or later
Fixed in 13.11.613.12.614.0.2
Interim mitigation

Update GitLab to version 14.0.2, 13.12.6, or 13.11.6 or later. As a compensating control, restrict webhook creation/modification permissions to trusted users and implement rate limiting on webhook endpoints.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 14.0.2 or later (14.1.x/14.2.x stable releases), or at minimum 13.11.6, 13.12.6

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data and configuration before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. 2. Review the GitLab upgrade documentation for your installation method (Omnibus, source, Docker, or Helm chart)
  3. 3. For Omnibus installations: stop GitLab services with 'sudo gitlab-ctl stop'
  4. 4. Update the GitLab package repository and install the updated package
  5. 5. For Omnibus: run 'sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure' to apply configuration changes
  6. 6. Verify GitLab is running with 'sudo gitlab-ctl status'
  7. 7. Check the GitLab version at Admin Area > Settings > General > Information or via 'sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info'
  8. 8. Confirm the webhooks functionality is working correctly post-upgrade
Caveat Major upgrades between major versions (e.g., 13.x to 14.x) may require database migrations and have breaking changes - review the GitLab release notes for each major version jumped

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2021-22246 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