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GitLabApplication

CVE-2021-22253

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 13.12.9 / 14.0.7 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
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 GitLab EE affecting all versions since 13.4 allowed a user who previously had the necessary access to trigger deployments to protected environments under specific conditions after the access has been removed

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 vulnerability in GitLab EE allows users who previously had deployment access to protected environments to still trigger deployments after their access has been removed. This authorization bypass affects all versions since 13.4 and occurs under specific conditions.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to the patched version provided in the security release. There are no known workarounds; immediate patching is the recommended remediation.

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:>= 13.4.0, < 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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

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. Check installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the GitLab admin panel under Admin Area > Dashboard to find the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within 13.4.0 to 13.12.8, 14.0.0 to 14.0.6, or 14.1.0 to 14.1.1
  2. Verify protected environments are configured
    Navigate to the project Settings > Protected environments in the GitLab UI, or query the database table `protected_environments` if direct database access is available
    Affected if Protected environments exist and are in use in any project
  3. Identify users who lost deployment access
    Review the `deploy_access_levels` table in the GitLab database, specifically looking for records where `user_id` is not NULL and cross-reference with current project membership to find users no longer members but with historical deployment access
    Affected if There are users who previously had deployment access to protected environments but are no longer project members or deploy access level holders
  4. Verify current deployment permissions
    As an administrator, attempt to audit the `protected_environment_deploy_accesses` table to list all current users with deployment access to protected environments
    Affected if There is a mismatch between current project membership and historical deployment access records, or orphaned deploy access entries exist for users no longer in the project

You are affected if your GitLab EE version is within the vulnerable range AND you use protected environments AND users who previously had deployment access have since been removed from the project but their deployment access rights may persist.

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 the patched version provided in the security release. There are no known workarounds; immediate patching is the recommended remediation.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 13.12.9, 14.0.7, 14.1.2, or later (preferably latest 14.x stable such as 14.10.x)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance database and repository data before upgrading
  2. 2. Check your current GitLab version via Admin Area > Dashboard or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  3. 3. Plan your upgrade path: choose either 13.12.9, 14.0.7, or 14.1.2 as your target minimum version; for production environments, consider upgrading to the latest stable 14.x release (14.10.x or later) for additional fixes
  4. 4. For Omnibus installations: run `sudo gitlab-ctl stop` then `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce` (or `gitlab-ee`)
  5. 5. For source installations: follow the upgrade documentation for your specific version jump, stopping services, pulling new code, running migrations, and restarting
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the version via Admin Area or `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  7. 7. Test that users who previously had protected environment deployment access but had it removed can no longer trigger deployments
Caveat Review GitLab upgrade guides for version-specific migration notes; major version jumps (e.g., 13.x to 14.x) may require additional migration steps and downtime

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
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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-2021-22253 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