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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-3413

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.2.8 / 16.3.5 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 affecting all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.8, all versions starting from 16.3 before 16.3.5, all versions starting from 16.4 before 16.4.1. It was possible to read the source code of a project through a fork created before changing visibility to only project members.

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 16.2.x before 16.2.8, 16.3.x before 16.3.5, and 16.4.x before 16.4.1 had an authorization bypass where forks created before restricting project visibility retained read access to the parent project's source code after the visibility was changed to 'only project members'.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 16.2.8, 16.3.5, 16.4.1 or later. Review existing forks to ensure unauthorized access has not occurred.

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:>= 16.2, < 16.2.8>= 16.3.0, < 16.3.5= 16.4.0

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
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 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 check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to determine the exact version number
    Affected if Version is 16.2.0 through 16.2.7, 16.3.0 through 16.3.4, or exactly 16.4.0 (use `gitlab-ctl version` or the admin dashboard)
  2. Identify projects with visibility changes to restricted
    Review project settings in admin panel or use GitLab API to query projects where `visibility` was changed to `private` or `internal` after having `public` or `internal` setting, and note the timestamp of the change
    Affected if Any project had its visibility changed from a more permissive setting (public/internal) to restricted (private/only project members) while forks existed
  3. Enumerate forks created before visibility restriction
    For each project identified in step 2, list all forks using the GitLab UI (Project > Forks) or API endpoint `GET /projects/:id/forks` and note their creation timestamps relative to when visibility was restricted
    Affected if Forks exist with creation date earlier than the visibility restriction timestamp
  4. Verify fork access to parent source code
    Attempt to access the parent project's repository, branches, tags, or files through a forked project that was created before the visibility restriction; check if content is visible or if read operations succeed
    Affected if Forked projects can still read or clone the parent project's source code despite visibility being set to 'only project members'

A user is affected if running a vulnerable GitLab version AND has projects where visibility was restricted while forks existed prior to the restriction.

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 16.2.8 / 16.3.5 or later
Fixed in 16.2.816.3.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 16.2.8, 16.3.5, 16.4.1 or later. Review existing forks to ensure unauthorized access has not occurred.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.2.8, 16.3.5, or 16.4.1 depending on current version

  1. Identify the current GitLab version by navigating to the GitLab admin area or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  2. Determine the appropriate upgrade target based on current version: if 16.2.x upgrade to 16.2.8, if 16.3.x upgrade to 16.3.5, if 16.4.0 upgrade to 16.4.1
  3. Create a full backup of the GitLab instance using `gitlab-backup create`
  4. Review the official GitLab upgrade documentation for the specific version path
  5. Execute the upgrade following GitLab's standard upgrade procedure for your deployment method (omnibus, source, etc.)
  6. After upgrade, verify the GitLab version matches the expected fixed release
  7. Audit recent fork relationships to ensure no unauthorized forks exist with stale visibility permissions
Caveat Review GitLab release notes for any between-version changes that may affect your instance's configuration or integrations

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
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2023-3413 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