dbcve.org
GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-0523

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.8.5 / 15.9.4 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 15.6 before 15.8.5, 15.9 before 15.9.4, and 15.10 before 15.10.1. An XSS was possible via a malicious email address for certain instances.

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 Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in GitLab allows attackers to inject malicious scripts through a specially crafted email address. This affects GitLab versions 15.6 through 15.10.1 (specifically 15.6 to <15.8.5, 15.9 to <15.9.4, and 15.10 to <15.10.1). The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium).

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.8.5, 15.9.4, or 15.10.1 or later to patch this XSS vulnerability.

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:>= 15.6.0, < 15.8.5>= 15.6.0, <= 15.8.5>= 15.9.0, < 15.9.4= 15.10.0

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' or check the GitLab admin interface at Admin Area > Dashboard. Alternatively, check the package version with 'dpkg -l | grep gitlab' or 'rpm -q gitlab-ee' depending on your OS.
    Affected if The installed version is 15.6.0 through 15.8.4, 15.9.0 through 15.9.3, or exactly 15.10.0.
  2. Verify user registration is enabled
    Check the GitLab configuration file (usually at /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb) for the setting 'gitlab_rails["gitlab_default_can_create_group"]' or navigate to Admin Area > Settings > General > Sign-up restrictions and check if sign-up is allowed.
    Affected if User registration or sign-up is enabled, allowing external users to create accounts with custom email addresses.
  3. Confirm email-based features are active
    Inspect whether incoming email or email notifications are configured and functional. Check /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb for 'gitlab_rails["incoming_email"]' settings or review the gitlab-rails process status.
    Affected if Email handling features are enabled, which is required for the crafted email address to be processed and the XSS to trigger.

You are affected if your GitLab version falls within 15.6.0 to 15.8.4, 15.9.0 to 15.9.3, or 15.10.0 AND user registration with custom email addresses is enabled.

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 15.8.5 / 15.9.4 or later
Fixed in 15.8.515.9.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 15.8.5, 15.9.4, or 15.10.1 or later to patch this XSS vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 15.8.5, 15.9.4, 15.10.1, or later (recommended: latest stable 15.x or 16.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current GitLab installation version using `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or the GitLab admin interface
  2. 2. Based on your current version, plan an upgrade to a fixed release
  3. 3. Back up your GitLab instance before upgrading using `sudo gitlab-backup-create`
  4. 4. Update your GitLab package repository and install the upgrade using `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee` (for Debian/Ubuntu) or `sudo yum install gitlab-ee` (for RHEL/CentOS)
  5. 5. After installation, run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` to apply configuration changes
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version with `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  7. 7. Test that the XSS vulnerability is patched by verifying malicious email addresses are properly sanitized in the application
Caveat Review GitLab upgrade documentation for version-specific breaking changes; major upgrades (e.g., 15.x to 16.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
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-0523 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-0523 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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