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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-1708

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 was identified in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 1.0 prior to 15.8.5, 15.9 prior to 15.9.4, and 15.10 prior to 15.10.1 where non-printable characters gets copied from clipboard, allowing unexpected commands to be executed on victim machine.

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 · moderate confidence

GitLab CE/EE fails to sanitize or filter non-printable characters when processing clipboard content, allowing specially crafted clipboard data to trigger command execution on the victim's machine. This appears to be a client-side vulnerability where malicious characters or escape sequences copied into the clipboard are processed without proper sanitization.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.8.5, 15.9.4, or 15.10.1 or later to patch the clipboard handling 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:>= 1.0.0, < 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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/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. Identify installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check `/opt/gitlab/version` or the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version
    Affected if version is < 15.8.5 OR between 15.9.0 and 15.9.4 inclusive OR exactly 15.10.0
  2. Confirm GitLab component
    Verify this is GitLab Community Edition (CE) or Enterprise Edition (EE) by running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the admin panel
    Affected if any GitLab CE/EE instance with an affected version from step 1
  3. Verify clipboard processing is in use
    This vulnerability affects clipboard content processed through GitLab's web interface (for example, pasting content into issues, merge requests, or other text fields). No special config check is needed - the vulnerable code path exists in affected versions regardless of configuration.
    Affected if running an affected GitLab version listed in step 1

You are affected if your GitLab CE/EE version falls within < 15.8.5, 15.9.0-15.9.4, or 15.10.0, as the clipboard processing code contains the unsanitized character handling flaw in all configurations.

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 the clipboard handling vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 15.10.1 or later (or 15.9.4+, or 15.8.5+ depending on your branch)

  1. Identify your current GitLab version by running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the GitLab admin area
  2. Back up your GitLab database and repositories using `gitlab-backup create`
  3. Ensure you have sufficient downtime window for the upgrade
  4. For package installations (Omnibus), run: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce` (or `gitlab-ee` for Enterprise Edition)
  5. For source installations, follow the upgrade guide at docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/
  6. After upgrade, verify GitLab is running: `sudo gitlab-ctl status`
  7. Clear Redis cache: `sudo gitlab-rails cache:clear`
  8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version at /help or via admin area
Caveat Major upgrades between GitLab versions may require additional migration steps; review the upgrade path documentation for your specific version jump

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 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-2023-1708 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