GitLabApplication
CVE-2021-39866
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 · uneditedA business logic error in the project deletion process in GitLab 13.6 and later allows persistent access via project access tokens.
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 confidenceA business logic error in GitLab 13.6+ allows project access tokens to remain valid after their associated project is deleted. Attackers who previously had project access tokens can continue using them for persistent access even post-deletion.
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
>= 13.6.0, < 14.1.7>= 14.2.0, < 14.2.5= 4.3.0CVSS 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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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Identify GitLab instance versionRun gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to obtain the exact installed version numberAffected if The installed version falls within 13.6.0 to 14.1.6, 14.2.0 to 14.2.4, or is exactly 14.3.0
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Determine if any projects were deletedQuery the GitLab database or audit logs for records of deleted projects, noting their project IDs and deletion timestampsAffected if Any projects were deleted from the GitLab instance at any point
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Enumerate active project access tokensList all project access tokens currently registered in the system, retrieving their associated project IDsAffected if Any project access tokens exist in the system
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Cross-reference tokens against deleted projectsCompare the project IDs from active tokens against the list of deleted project IDs to identify orphaned tokensAffected if Any project access token references a project that has been deleted from the system
A GitLab instance is affected if it runs an affected version AND has any project access tokens that remain valid for projects which have been deleted, as these tokens can still be used for API access.
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.
dbcve · scoped14.1.714.2.5
Audit and revoke all project access tokens associated with deleted projects; review access logs for unauthorized activity using these stale tokens; consider upgrading to patched GitLab versions when available.
14.1.7, 14.2.5, or latest 14.3.x/14.4.x stable release
- Back up your GitLab instance and database before proceeding with the upgrade
- Stop GitLab services to prevent data inconsistency during upgrade
- Upgrade GitLab to version 14.1.7 or later (if currently on 14.1.x), or 14.2.5 or later (if currently on 14.2.x), or preferably the latest stable 14.3.x release or later
- After upgrade completes, verify the version by checking GitLab admin area or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
- Restart GitLab services to ensure all components are running with the patched version
- Revoke any project access tokens that may have been created before the fix to ensure the vulnerability cannot be exploited
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $3,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-39866 — 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-2021-39866 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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