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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-2132

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-06
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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 15.4 before 15.10.8, all versions starting from 15.11 before 15.11.7, all versions starting from 16.0 before 16.0.2. A DollarMathPostFilter Regular Expression Denial of Service in was possible by sending crafted payloads to the preview_markdown endpoint.

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 Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability in GitLab's DollarMathPostFilter allows attackers to send crafted payloads to the preview_markdown endpoint, causing the regex engine to consume excessive CPU resources and potentially hang the application.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 or later to patch the vulnerable DollarMathPostFilter regex processing.

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:>= 15.4.0, < 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 installed GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or look at the GitLab admin panel under Help > Metrics and Dashboards > Instance version. Alternatively, check the /opt/gitlab/version file.
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: >= 15.4.0 and < 15.10.8, OR >= 15.11.0 and < 15.11.7, OR >= 16.0.0 and < 16.0.2
  2. Verify DollarMathPostFilter is in use
    The DollarMathPostFilter processes mathematical expressions in markdown. Check if your GitLab instance accepts markdown rendering with math support, typically via the preview_markdown API endpoint or when rendering issues, comments, or merge requests containing math notation (e.g., $...$ or $$...$$).
    Affected if The DollarMathPostFilter feature is enabled and the GitLab version is vulnerable as checked above
  3. Identify exposure to preview_markdown endpoint
    Review API access logs or audit logs for POST requests to /api/v4/markdown/preview or /api/v4/projects/:id/markdown/preview endpoints. These endpoints invoke the DollarMathPostFilter when processing math expressions in the request body.
    Affected if The preview_markdown endpoint is accessible (either internally or externally) and the GitLab version is vulnerable

You are affected if your GitLab version is 15.4.0 through 15.10.7, 15.11.0 through 15.11.6, or 16.0.0 through 16.0.1 AND the DollarMathPostFilter is processing math expressions via the preview_markdown endpoint.

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 to patch the vulnerable DollarMathPostFilter regex processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 (recommended: latest 16.0.x stable)

  1. Identify the currently installed GitLab version using `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the GitLab admin area
  2. Determine which version branch your current installation is on (15.4.x-15.10.x, 15.11.x, or 16.0.x)
  3. Plan the upgrade following GitLab's upgrade path documentation for your specific version
  4. Back up your GitLab database and repositories before upgrading
  5. Upgrade to the appropriate fixed version: 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 (or later)
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking GitLab is operational
Caveat Review GitLab upgrade guides for any version-specific breaking changes between your current and target versions

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2023-2132 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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