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GitLabApplication

CVE-2022-4037

HIGH · 8.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.5.7 / 15.6.4 or later.
See remediation →
91/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 CE/EE affecting all versions before 15.5.7, all versions starting from 15.6 before 15.6.4, all versions starting from 15.7 before 15.7.2. A race condition can lead to verified email forgery and takeover of third-party accounts when using GitLab as an OAuth provider.

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

A race condition in GitLab's OAuth identity provider implementation allows attackers to forge verified email addresses during the OAuth authentication flow. When GitLab is configured as an OAuth provider for third-party applications, the timing vulnerability can be exploited to associate an attacker's controlled email with a victim's account, enabling account takeover of those third-party services.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab installations to version 15.5.7, 15.6.4, 15.7.2 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable GitLab as an OAuth identity provider until patching can be completed.

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:< 15.5.7>= 15.6.0, < 15.6.4>= 15.7.0, < 15.7.2

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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 `gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the Admin Area > Version in the web UI, or inspect the package version (e.g., `dpkg -l | grep gitlab` or `rpm -qa | grep gitlab`)
    Affected if The installed version falls into any of these ranges: < 15.5.7, >= 15.6.0 and < 15.6.4, or >= 15.7.0 and < 15.7.2
  2. Verify if GitLab is configured as an OAuth identity provider
    Check the GitLab admin interface at Admin Area > Applications > OAuth Applications, or query the database table `oauth_access_grants` or `oauth_applications`, or inspect the gitlab.yml configuration file for `omniauth` provider settings
    Affected if GitLab has any OAuth applications registered where it acts as the OAuth provider (Issuer) for third-party external services
  3. Confirm OAuth provider has email scope enabled
    Review the OAuth application settings in Admin Area > Applications to see if the `email` scope is granted to relying party applications, or query `oauth_applications` table for scopes containing 'email'
    Affected if The OAuth provider configuration includes the email scope, allowing third-party apps to request user email addresses during OAuth flow

A user is affected if their GitLab version is within the vulnerable ranges AND GitLab is configured as an OAuth identity provider with email scope enabled for external applications.

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 15.5.7 / 15.6.4 / 15.7.2 or later
Fixed in 15.5.715.6.415.7.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab installations to version 15.5.7, 15.6.4, 15.7.2 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable GitLab as an OAuth identity provider until patching can be completed.

Recommended fix High confidence

15.7.2 or later (or 15.6.4 if staying on 15.6.x, or 15.5.7 if staying on 15.5.x)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance database and configuration before upgrading
  2. 2. Stop GitLab services (gitlab-ctl stop)
  3. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get install gitlab-ce' or 'apt-get install gitlab-ee' depending on your edition
  4. 4. For RHEL/CentOS: Run 'yum install gitlab-ce' or 'yum install gitlab-ee'
  5. 5. After installation, run 'gitlab-ctl reconfigure'
  6. 6. Start GitLab services with 'gitlab-ctl start'
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade by checking the version in Admin Area > Settings > General (or run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info')
  8. 8. Ensure OAuth configurations are reviewed after upgrade for any anomalies
Caveat Review GitLab 15.6 and 15.7 release notes for any breaking changes relevant to your instance configuration and OAuth integrations

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

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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-2022-4037 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