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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-1072

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 15.7.8 / 15.8.4 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 9.0 before 15.7.8, all versions starting from 15.8 before 15.8.4, all versions starting from 15.9 before 15.9.2. It was possible to trigger a resource depletion attack due to improper filtering for number of requests to read commits details.

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

GitLab versions 9.0 through 15.9.1 contain an improper input validation vulnerability in the commit details reading functionality. An attacker can trigger a resource depletion (denial of service) attack by sending excessive requests to read commit information without proper rate limiting or filtering on the number of requests.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.7.8, 15.8.4, 15.9.2 or later. Alternatively, implement rate limiting at the web application firewall or reverse proxy level for commit-related API endpoints as a compensating control.

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:>= 9.0, < 15.7.8>= 15.8, < 15.8.4>= 15.9, < 15.9.2

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
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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 `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the GitLab admin dashboard under Admin Area > Settings > General > GitLab version
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 9.0 and < 15.7.8, OR >= 15.8 and < 15.8.4, OR >= 15.9 and < 15.9.2
  2. Verify commit API endpoints are accessible
    Attempt to access a commit detail endpoint such as `/api/v4/projects/:id/repository/commits/:sha` using curl or a browser. If the endpoint responds with commit details, it is exposed.
    Affected if The commit reading API endpoint is accessible without additional authentication beyond standard GitLab authentication
  3. Check for rate limiting on commit endpoints
    Review GitLab configuration file `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` for `nginx['rate_limit']` settings or check if a web application firewall (WAF) or reverse proxy applies rate limiting to `/repository/commits` paths.
    Affected if No rate limiting is configured for commit-related API endpoints or the rate limiting threshold is not set low enough to prevent resource depletion
  4. Review GitLab probe or health endpoint exposure
    Send multiple rapid requests to commit reading endpoints and observe response times and server resource usage. Use `for i in {1..100}; do curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" "https://your-gitlab/api/v4/projects/1/repository/commits/master"; done` to test.
    Affected if The server shows degraded performance, timeouts, or returns 500 errors under rapid commit request load

You are affected if your GitLab version is between 9.0 and 15.9.1 (specifically < 15.7.8, < 15.8.4, or < 15.9.2 depending on your minor version) AND the commit reading API endpoints are accessible without sufficient rate limiting configured.

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 15.7.8 / 15.8.4 / 15.9.2 or later
Fixed in 15.7.815.8.415.9.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 15.7.8, 15.8.4, 15.9.2 or later. Alternatively, implement rate limiting at the web application firewall or reverse proxy level for commit-related API endpoints as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

15.9.2 or later (or 15.7.8/15.8.4 depending on your branch)

  1. 1. Identify your current GitLab version by checking the GitLab admin area or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  2. 2. If running version 15.7.x, upgrade to 15.7.8; if running 15.8.x, upgrade to 15.8.4; if running 15.9.x or 15.10.x, upgrade to at least 15.9.2 (preferably the latest stable release such as 15.11.x or newer)
  3. 3. Follow the standard GitLab upgrade procedure for your installation method (omnibus, source, or Docker)
  4. 4. After upgrade, verify GitLab is functioning correctly and the vulnerability is resolved
  5. 5. Review GitLab release notes for any additional security fixes included in the target version
Caveat Minor version upgrades within the same major version typically have minimal breaking changes, but review release notes for any configuration or feature changes

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2023-1072 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