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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-6477

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.7.6 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
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 issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 16.5 before 16.7.6, all versions starting from 16.8 before 16.8.3, all versions starting from 16.9 before 16.9.1. When a user is assigned a custom role with admin_group_member permission, they may be able to make a group, other members or themselves Owners of that group, which may lead to privilege escalation.

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 EE versions 16.5 through 16.7.6, 16.8 through 16.8.3, and 16.9 through 16.9.1 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability where users assigned a custom role with admin_group_member permission can make themselves, other members, or arbitrary users Owners of a group, bypassing intended permission boundaries.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to versions 16.7.6, 16.8.3, 16.9.1 or later. As a compensating control, audit existing custom roles that include admin_group_member permission and restrict assignments to trusted users only.

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:>= 16.5.0, < 16.7.6>= 16.8.0, <= 16.8.3= 16.9.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

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:version` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version. Compare the version number to the affected ranges: 16.5.0 to 16.7.6, 16.8.0 to 16.8.3, or 16.9.0 to 16.9.1
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected ranges listed in the CVE
  2. Verify custom roles feature is enabled
    Navigate to Admin Area > Settings > General > Custom roles, or query the API endpoint `/api/v4/custom_roles` with admin credentials. Check if any custom roles exist in the instance
    Affected if Custom roles are enabled and at least one custom role is defined
  3. Identify custom roles with admin_group_member permission
    In Admin Area, go to Roles > Custom Roles and review each role's permissions. Look for roles that include the 'admin_group_member' permission in their permission set
    Affected if Any custom role grants the admin_group_member permission to users
  4. Review recent group membership changes to Owners
    Check GitLab audit logs: go to Admin Area > Monitoring > Audit Events, filter by event type 'group_member_added' or 'group_member_updated', and look for changes where the access level was set to Owner (50). Alternatively, use the API: `GET /api/v4/groups/:id/audit_events`
    Affected if Audit logs show group membership changes to Owner level performed by users who only hold custom roles (not full administrators)

You are affected if your GitLab EE version is within 16.5.0-16.7.6, 16.8.0-16.8.3, or 16.9.0-16.9.1 AND custom roles with admin_group_member permission exist in your environment.

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 16.7.6 or later
Fixed in 16.7.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to versions 16.7.6, 16.8.3, 16.9.1 or later. As a compensating control, audit existing custom roles that include admin_group_member permission and restrict assignments to trusted users only.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.9.1 or later (16.7.6+ for 16.5-16.7.x branch, 16.8.4+ for 16.8.x branch)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data and configuration
  2. 2. Plan maintenance window as upgrade may require downtime
  3. 3. For Debian/Ubuntu: Run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee'
  4. 4. For RHEL/CentOS: Run 'sudo yum install gitlab-ee'
  5. 5. For Docker: Pull and run the new image (e.g., docker run -d gitlab/gitlab-ee:16.9.1)
  6. 6. Run 'sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure' after package installation
  7. 7. Verify GitLab is functioning correctly post-upgrade
  8. 8. Confirm the version by checking Admin Area > Settings > General > GitLab version
Caveat Patch releases typically have minimal breaking changes; review GitLab 16.9 release notes for any migration or deprecation notices

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 / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2023-6477 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