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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-4700

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.3.6 / 16.4.2 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 authorization issue affecting GitLab EE affecting all versions from 14.7 prior to 16.3.6, 16.4 prior to 16.4.2, and 16.5 prior to 16.5.1, allowed a user to run jobs in protected environments, bypassing any required approvals.

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

This is an authorization bypass vulnerability in GitLab Enterprise Edition where users can execute CI/CD jobs in protected environments without the required approval checks. Protected environments in GitLab are designed to have mandatory approval workflows for deployments to sensitive targets, but this flaw allowed authenticated users to circumvent those safeguards.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 16.3.6, 16.4.2, 16.5.1 or later to receive the security patch. After upgrading, verify that protected environment approval workflows are functioning correctly.

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:>= 14.7.0, < 16.3.6>= 16.4.0, < 16.4.2= 16.5.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Verify GitLab edition is Enterprise Edition
    Run `gitlab-ctl version` or check the UI under Admin Area > Overview > Dashboard - the edition is shown on the license page. Only GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE) is affected, not Community Edition (CE).
    Affected if The instance is running GitLab Enterprise Edition (EE).
  2. Check installed GitLab version
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the version displayed at the bottom of any GitLab page. Compare against affected ranges: >= 14.7.0 AND < 16.3.6; OR >= 16.4.0 AND < 16.4.2; OR = 16.5.0.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected version ranges.
  3. Confirm protected environments are in use
    Navigate to a project's Settings > Environments or use the API `GET /projects/:id/environments`. Check if any environments have the 'protected' flag enabled.
    Affected if Protected environments exist in any project on the instance.
  4. Verify approval rules exist on protected environments
    Navigate to Settings > Environments for a protected environment. Check if 'Required approval' rules are defined under the approval settings, or query via API: `GET /projects/:id/environments/:environment_id` looking for `required_approval_count` greater than zero.
    Affected if Protected environments have approval requirements configured.

The environment is affected if it runs GitLab EE within the vulnerable version range AND has protected environments configured with approval rules, allowing users to potentially bypass deployment approvals.

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 16.3.6 / 16.4.2 or later
Fixed in 16.3.616.4.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 16.3.6, 16.4.2, 16.5.1 or later to receive the security patch. After upgrading, verify that protected environment approval workflows are functioning correctly.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.5.1 (or 16.3.6 or 16.4.2 depending on current version branch)

  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: if >= 14.7.0 and < 16.3.6, upgrade to 16.3.6; if >= 16.4.0 and < 16.4.2, upgrade to 16.4.2; if = 16.5.0, upgrade to 16.5.1.
  3. 3. Before upgrading, create a full backup using `sudo gitlab-backup-create` or the omnibus backup command.
  4. 4. Update the GitLab package repository and install the upgrade using package manager commands (e.g., `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee` for Debian/Ubuntu, or `sudo yum install gitlab-ee` for RHEL/CentOS).
  5. 5. After installation, run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` to apply configuration changes.
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the version in the admin area or via `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`.
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is patched by testing that users cannot bypass protected environment job approvals.
Caveat Standard GitLab upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for any configuration changes or breaking changes between versions, and test in staging first.

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
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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-2023-4700 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