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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-3914

MEDIUM · 5.3 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 →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A business logic error in GitLab EE affecting all versions prior to 16.2.8, 16.3 prior to 16.3.5, and 16.4 prior to 16.4.1 allows access to internal projects. A service account is not deleted when a namespace is deleted, allowing access to internal projects.

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 business logic error in GitLab EE allows access to internal projects because service accounts are not deleted when their associated namespace is deleted. This leaves orphaned service accounts that retain access to internal projects that should no longer be accessible.

MitigationUpgrade to GitLab 16.2.8, 16.3.5, or 16.4.1 or later. Additionally, audit for and manually remove orphaned service accounts associated with deleted namespaces to ensure internal project access is properly revoked.

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:< 16.2.8>= 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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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 your GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to determine the installed version
    Affected if The installed version is < 16.2.8, or >= 16.3.0 and < 16.3.5, or = 16.4.0
  2. Identify deleted namespaces with service accounts
    Query the GitLab database for service accounts linked to namespaces that have been soft-deleted (look for users with service_account column set to true where the associated namespace has been removed)
    Affected if There exist service accounts belonging to namespaces that were deleted but the service accounts remain in the system
  3. Verify orphaned service accounts retain project access
    Query which internal projects are accessible to the orphaned service accounts identified in the previous step, using the GitLab API or admin panel to check project members
    Affected if Orphaned service accounts can still access internal projects that should no longer be accessible after namespace deletion
  4. Audit service account to namespace linkage
    Compare the list of all service accounts against currently active namespaces to identify any service accounts not linked to an existing namespace
    Affected if There are service accounts in the system that are not associated with any active namespace

You are affected if your GitLab version falls within the affected ranges AND orphaned service accounts from deleted namespaces still have access to internal projects.

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 to GitLab 16.2.8, 16.3.5, or 16.4.1 or later. Additionally, audit for and manually remove orphaned service accounts associated with deleted namespaces to ensure internal project access is properly revoked.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.4.1 (or latest 16.4.x stable)

  1. Identify your current GitLab installation method (Omnibus, Source, or Docker)
  2. Backup your GitLab data and configuration files
  3. Consult the official GitLab upgrade guide for your installation method
  4. For GitLab installations: sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info to verify current version
  5. Upgrade to the appropriate fixed version based on your current version: if < 16.2.8 upgrade to 16.2.8 or later; if >= 16.3.0 and < 16.3.5 upgrade to 16.3.5 or later; if = 16.4.0 upgrade to 16.4.1 or later
  6. After upgrade, run sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:check to verify integrity
  7. Review user access to internal projects to confirm the service account issue is remediated
Caveat Review GitLab 16.x release notes for any breaking changes between your current and target version before upgrading

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-3914 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