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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-0121

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.10.8 / 15.11.7 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 denial of service issue was discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 13.2.4 before 15.10.8, all versions starting from 15.11 before 15.11.7, all versions starting from 16.0 before 16.0.2 which allows an attacker to cause high resource consumption using malicious test report artifacts.

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 denial of service vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE allows attackers to cause high resource consumption by uploading malicious test report artifacts. This affects all versions from 13.2.4 through 16.0.1, enabling attackers to trigger excessive server resource usage via crafted test reports.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 or later. Consider implementing rate limiting and file size restrictions on test report artifact uploads as a defensive measure.

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:>= 13.2.4, < 15.10.8>= 15.11.0, < 15.11.7>= 16.0.0, < 16.0.2

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Check GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or view the version in the GitLab admin panel under /admin/application_settings, or check /opt/gitlab/version-manifest.json
    Affected if The installed version is >= 13.2.4 and < 15.10.8, OR >= 15.11.0 and < 15.11.7, OR >= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.2
  2. Confirm test report artifacts feature is accessible
    Verify that CI/CD test report features are available in at least one project by navigating to a project is CI/CD settings or attempting to access the test reports functionality
    Affected if The test report artifact feature is enabled and users can upload test report JSON files as pipeline artifacts
  3. Check for artifact upload size limits
    Review GitLab application settings under Settings > CI/CD > General pipelines or check `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` for `gitlab_rails['max_artifacts_size']` configuration
    Affected if No artifact size limits are configured or limits are set excessively high, allowing large file uploads that could trigger resource exhaustion

Your environment is affected if GitLab version falls within any of the affected ranges AND the test report artifacts feature is accessible to users who could upload malicious reports.

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 15.10.8 / 15.11.7 / 16.0.2 or later
Fixed in 15.10.815.11.716.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 or later. Consider implementing rate limiting and file size restrictions on test report artifact uploads as a defensive measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.0.2 or later (or 15.11.7+ if staying on 15.x, or 15.10.8+ if staying on 15.10.x)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance and database before upgrading
  2. 2. Identify your current GitLab version in Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling > Version
  3. 3. Plan your upgrade path based on your current version - ensure you reach a fixed version (15.10.8+, 15.11.7+, or 16.0.2+)
  4. 4. For package-based installations (Omnibus), run 'apt-get update && apt-get install gitlab-ce' or 'yum install gitlab-ce'
  5. 5. For source installations, follow the upgrade documentation for your target version
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify GitLab is running: 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info'
  7. 7. Clear any existing malicious test report artifacts that may have been uploaded
Caveat GitLab major version upgrades may require database migrations and have breaking changes - review release notes before upgrading, especially when jumping across multiple minor versions

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-0121 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