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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-0805

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-05-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.9.6 / 15.10.5 or later.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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 EE affecting all versions starting from 15.2 before 15.9.6, all versions starting from 15.10 before 15.10.5, all versions starting from 15.11 before 15.11.1. A malicious group member may continue to have access to the public projects of a public group even after being banned from the public group by the owner.

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

This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in GitLab EE where a user banned from a public group can still access public projects within that group. The issue stems from the public project access check not properly validating the user's group membership status after being banned, allowing continued access to group resources despite the ban.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to versions 15.9.6, 15.10.5, or 15.11.1 or later, which contain the fix for proper group ban enforcement on public project access.

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:>= 15.2, < 15.9.6>= 15.10, < 15.10.5>= 15.11, < 15.11.1

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
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or access the GitLab admin area to view the version number
    Affected if Version is 15.2 to 15.9.5, 15.10.0 to 15.10.4, or 15.11.0
  2. Confirm GitLab edition is Enterprise Edition
    Check the admin dashboard or run `grep -q 'EE' /opt/gitlab/version-manifest.txt` if available; EE is required for this vulnerability
    Affected if Running GitLab EE (Enterprise Edition)
  3. Identify public groups in the instance
    Use GitLab API: `GET /groups?min_access_level=10` or check via admin panel for groups with Public visibility setting
    Affected if Any groups exist with Public visibility level
  4. Check for public projects within groups
    Use GitLab API: `GET /projects?membership=false&visibility=public` or review project visibility settings in the admin panel
    Affected if Public projects exist that belong to groups rather than standalone
  5. Verify group ban functionality is available
    Group ban feature is an EE feature; confirm via admin panel under Groups > Banned Users or via API if group bans have been used
    Affected if Group banning feature is in use or available on the instance

You are affected if running a GitLab EE version in the vulnerable range (15.2 to 15.9.5, 15.10.0 to 15.10.4, or 15.11.0) with public groups containing public projects where users can be banned.

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 15.9.6 / 15.10.5 / 15.11.1 or later
Fixed in 15.9.615.10.515.11.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to versions 15.9.6, 15.10.5, or 15.11.1 or later, which contain the fix for proper group ban enforcement on public project access.

Recommended fix High confidence

15.9.6 (for 15.2-15.9.x) or 15.10.5 (for 15.10.x) or 15.11.1 (for 15.11.x)

  1. 1. Identify current GitLab version by checking the GitLab administration panel or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version: if on 15.2-15.9.x upgrade to 15.9.6; if on 15.10.x upgrade to 15.10.5; if on 15.11.x upgrade to 15.11.1
  3. 3. Create a full backup of the GitLab database and repositories using `gitlab-backup create`
  4. 4. Stop GitLab services with `gitlab-ctl stop`
  5. 5. Update GitLab using the standard upgrade method for your installation (package manager or source)
  6. 6. Reconfigure GitLab with `gitlab-ctl reconfigure`
  7. 7. Start GitLab services with `gitlab-ctl start`
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking version with `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
Caveat GitLab minor version upgrades typically do not introduce breaking changes; however, review the release notes for your target version for any known issues

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
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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-2023-0805 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