dbcve.org
GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-2199

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-07
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 12.0 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 Regular Expression Denial of Service was possible via 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 · moderate confidence

A Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability exists in GitLab's preview_markdown endpoint. Attackers can send crafted regex payloads that cause excessive backtracking in the regex engine, leading to high CPU consumption and denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 or later to patch the 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:>= 12.0.0, < 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. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-ctl version` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version. Alternatively, check the version file at `/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/VERSION` if accessible.
    Affected if The installed version falls within: >= 12.0.0 AND < 15.10.8; OR >= 15.11.0 AND < 15.11.7; OR >= 16.0.0 AND < 16.0.2
  2. Verify preview_markdown endpoint is accessible
    Confirm that the GitLab instance exposes the `/projects/:id/preview_markdown` or `/api/v4/projects/:id/preview_markdown` API endpoint. This endpoint is enabled by default in standard GitLab installations.
    Affected if The endpoint is exposed and reachable from the network where an attacker could send requests.
  3. Check if GitLab is exposed to untrusted users
    Review access controls for the preview_markdown endpoint. Determine if unauthenticated users, external users, or low-privilege users can access this API functionality.
    Affected if Users outside the trusted admin group can access the preview_markdown endpoint, allowing them to send crafted payloads.

You are affected if your GitLab version is within the vulnerable ranges AND the preview_markdown endpoint is accessible to users who could send malicious regex payloads.

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 vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to 15.10.8, 15.11.7, or 16.0.2 (or later)

  1. 1. Identify the current GitLab version by running `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the GitLab admin area
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version using GitLab's upgrade path documentation (gitlab.com)
  3. 3. Create a full backup of the GitLab instance using `sudo gitlab-backup-create`
  4. 4. Stop GitLab services with `sudo gitlab-ctl stop`
  5. 5. For Debian/Ubuntu: Run `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee` (or `gitlab-ce` for Community Edition)
  6. 6. For RHEL/CentOS: Run `sudo yum install gitlab-ee` (or `gitlab-ce`)
  7. 7. Reconfigure GitLab with `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure`
  8. 8. Restart GitLab with `sudo gitlab-ctl start`
Caveat Major version upgrades (e.g., 15.x to 16.x) may require database migrations and have longer downtime; review GitLab upgrade documentation for breaking changes

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-2023-2199 — 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-2023-2199 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