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GitLabApplication

CVE-2021-22264

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 14.0.9 / 14.1.4 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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 13.8 before 14.0.9, all versions starting from 14.1 before 14.1.4, all versions starting from 14.2 before 14.2.2. Under specialized conditions, an invited group member may continue to have access to a project even after the invited group, which the member was part of, is deleted.

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 13.8 through 14.2.2 contain a broken access control flaw where group members retain project access after their parent group is deleted. When a group with project invitations is removed, the individual member accounts remain authorized to access the project despite the group no longer existing.

MitigationUpgrade to GitLab 14.0.10+, 14.1.5+, or 14.2.3+ and conduct an audit of project member lists to identify and revoke any unexpected access from former group members.

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:>= 13.8.0, < 14.0.9>= 14.1.0, < 14.1.4>= 14.2.0, < 14.2.2

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. Check installed GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if Version falls within 13.8.0 to 14.0.8, 14.1.0 to 14.1.3, or 14.2.0 to 14.2.2
  2. Identify deleted groups with project access
    Query the database or use GitLab API to list all projects and compare their member group IDs against currently existing group IDs in the system
    Affected if Any project has members referencing group IDs that no longer exist in the groups table
  3. Audit project member list for orphaned group memberships
    For each affected project identified, review the project members page in the UI or query the project_members table to list all group members, then verify each group still exists
    Affected if Projects display group memberships for groups that have been deleted from the system
  4. Verify access from former group members
    Attempt to access or list resources as a user who was a member of a now-deleted group, or review audit logs for successful accesses by users whose parent groups no longer exist
    Affected if Users from deleted groups can still access projects they were invited to through the removed group

Environment is affected if GitLab version is within the vulnerable range AND any groups with project invitations were deleted, leaving orphaned member access in projects.

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 14.0.9 / 14.1.4 / 14.2.2 or later
Fixed in 14.0.914.1.414.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to GitLab 14.0.10+, 14.1.5+, or 14.2.3+ and conduct an audit of project member lists to identify and revoke any unexpected access from former group members.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 14.0.9, 14.1.4, or 14.2.2 (or later). Recommended: upgrade to the latest stable 14.x release.

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab database and repositories before upgrading
  2. 2. Review the GitLab upgrade documentation for your deployment method (Omnibus, source, or Docker)
  3. 3. Stop GitLab services gracefully
  4. 4. For Omnibus installations: run 'sudo apt-get update' and 'sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce' (or 'gitlab-ee') to upgrade to the latest patch in your current minor version first
  5. 5. Alternatively, directly upgrade to one of the fixed versions: 14.0.9, 14.1.4, or 14.2.2 (or later)
  6. 6. Run 'sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure' after the package installation
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade by checking GitLab version with 'sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info'
  8. 8. Test that group membership and access controls are functioning correctly post-upgrade
Caveat Standard GitLab upgrade considerations apply: review the release notes for any between-version migrations, ensure database is backed up, and test in a staging environment first.

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,580
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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-2021-22264 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