GitLabApplication
CVE-2023-2825
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 · uneditedAn issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting only version 16.0.0. An unauthenticated malicious user can use a path traversal vulnerability to read arbitrary files on the server when an attachment exists in a public project nested within at least five groups.
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 confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE version 16.0.0 allows unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files on the server. The attack requires a public project nested within at least five groups that contains an attachment, which can then be accessed via path traversal to traverse outside the intended directory.
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
= 16.0.0CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm GitLab version is 16.0.0Access the GitLab Admin area via /admin or run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' from the server console to retrieve the installed version numberAffected if The installed version is exactly 16.0.0 (no patch version suffix)
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Identify public projectsIn the Admin area, navigate to Projects and filter by Visibility set to Public, or use the GitLab API endpoint '/api/v4/projects?visibility=public' to list all public projectsAffected if At least one public project exists in the GitLab instance
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Check project group nesting depthFor each public project, examine its full path (e.g., /group1/group2/group3/group4/group5/project-name) to determine the number of parent groups. Alternatively, query the database or API to retrieve the project namespace hierarchy and count the ancestor groupsAffected if Any public project is nested within five or more groups (e.g., /group1/group2/group3/group4/group5/project-name)
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Verify attachments exist in deeply nested public projectsCheck the identified deeply nested public projects for uploaded attachments by visiting the project Attachments page at /project-path/-/attachments or via the API endpoint '/api/v4/projects/:id/uploads'Affected if Any attachment files are present in a public project nested within five or more groups
You are affected if running GitLab exactly version 16.0.0 AND you have a public project nested within five or more groups that contains at least one attachment, as this combination enables the path traversal to read arbitrary files on the server.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade GitLab from version 16.0.0 to a patched version (16.0.1 or later). If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict public project creation and monitor for unauthorized file access attempts.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-2825 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-2825 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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