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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-3904

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.4.4 / 16.5.4 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 EE affecting all versions starting before 16.4.4, all versions starting from 16.5 before 16.5.4, all versions starting from 16.6 before 16.6.2. It was possible to overflow the time spent on an issue that altered the details shown in the issue boards.

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

An integer overflow vulnerability in GitLab EE allows manipulation of the 'time spent' field on issues, causing the value to exceed its intended bounds and corrupting the data displayed in issue boards. The overflow occurs when the time tracking value exceeds the maximum integer storage capacity, leading to incorrect or unexpected issue details being shown.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to version 16.4.4, 16.5.4, 16.6.2 or later to receive the patch for this integer overflow 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:< 16.4.4>= 16.5, < 16.5.4>= 16.6, < 16.6.2

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 EE version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if The version is < 16.4.4, OR >= 16.5.0 and < 16.5.4, OR >= 16.6.0 and < 16.6.2
  2. Verify time tracking feature is in use
    Navigate to Project > Settings > Integrations or check if any issues contain values in the 'time spent' or 'time estimate' fields
    Affected if Time tracking is enabled and users have logged time spent on issues
  3. Inspect issue board data for anomalies
    Open issue boards and review issues that have time tracking data. Look for issues where the displayed 'time spent' value appears unexpectedly large, negative, or otherwise incorrect compared to what was logged
    Affected if Any issues show corrupted or unexpected time tracking values on issue boards
  4. Check database for overflowed integer values
    Query the database (e.g., `SELECT id, title, time_spent FROM issues WHERE time_spent > 2147483647 OR time_spent < 0`) to identify records with integer overflow values
    Affected if Any issues have time_spent values exceeding the 32-bit signed integer maximum (2,147,483,647) or showing negative values

You are affected if your GitLab EE version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND time tracking is enabled with time spent values logged on issues.

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 16.4.4 / 16.5.4 / 16.6.2 or later
Fixed in 16.4.416.5.416.6.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to version 16.4.4, 16.5.4, 16.6.2 or later to receive the patch for this integer overflow vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.6.2 or later (latest stable 16.x release)

  1. 1. Identify your current GitLab version by navigating to the GitLab instance admin area or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  2. 2. Determine which upgrade path applies: if below 16.4.4 upgrade to 16.4.4; if 16.5.x upgrade to 16.5.4; if 16.6.0-16.6.1 upgrade to 16.6.2
  3. 3. Review GitLab release notes for the target version for any breaking changes or required pre-upgrade actions
  4. 4. Create a full backup of your GitLab instance using `gitlab-backup create`
  5. 5. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment first
  6. 6. Schedule a maintenance window and stop GitLab services
  7. 7. Update GitLab using your installation method (package manager, Docker, source) to the appropriate fixed version
  8. 8. Reconfigure GitLab with `gitlab-ctl reconfigure` if using Omnibus
Caveat Point releases are generally low-risk but review GitLab release notes for any breaking changes between your current and target version

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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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-2023-3904 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