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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-6489

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.8.6 / 16.9.4 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
A denial of service vulnerability was identified in GitLab CE/EE, versions 16.7.7 prior to 16.8.6, 16.9 prior to 16.9.4 and 16.10 prior to 16.10.2 which allows an attacker to spike the GitLab instance resources usage resulting in service degradation via chat integration feature.

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 denial of service vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE's chat integration feature allows attackers to spike resource consumption, causing service degradation. The flaw affects versions 16.7.x before 16.8.6, 16.9.x before 16.9.4, and 16.10.x before 16.10.2.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 16.8.6, 16.9.4, 16.10.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider temporarily disabling or rate-limiting the chat integration feature as a compensating control.

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:>= 16.7.7, < 16.8.6>= 16.9.0, < 16.9.4>= 16.10.0, < 16.10.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 version
    Log into the GitLab admin area and navigate to the Dashboard (Admin > Overview > Dashboard) to view the current version, or use the API: curl -s https://your-gitlab-instance/api/v4/version
    Affected if The version is 16.7.7 through 16.8.5, 16.9.0 through 16.9.3, or 16.10.0 through 16.10.1
  2. Verify chat integration is enabled
    Navigate to Admin > Settings > Integrations and review the configured chat integrations (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, or other chat services)
    Affected if Any chat integration is active and configured for the GitLab instance
  3. Check for resource consumption patterns
    Review GitLab logs (logs/gitlab-rails/production.log) and look for excessive requests to the chat integration endpoints, or monitor CPU/memory usage on the GitLab server during periods of chat activity
    Affected if Logs show unusually high request volume to integration endpoints or unexplained resource spikes coinciding with chat bot interactions

You are affected if your GitLab version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND the chat integration feature is configured and accessible to external users.

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 16.8.6 / 16.9.4 / 16.10.2 or later
Fixed in 16.8.616.9.416.10.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 16.8.6, 16.9.4, 16.10.2 or later. If immediate upgrade is not possible, consider temporarily disabling or rate-limiting the chat integration feature as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

GitLab 16.10.2 or later (or 16.8.6 / 16.9.4 depending on your current branch)

  1. Back up your GitLab instance database and configuration before upgrading
  2. Stop GitLab services to ensure data consistency during upgrade
  3. Upgrade to GitLab version 16.10.2 or later (recommended: latest stable 16.x release)
  4. For installations using package manager: run 'gitlab-ctl reconfigure' after upgrade
  5. For Docker installations: pull and run the new image version
  6. Verify GitLab services are running correctly post-upgrade
  7. Test the chat integration feature to confirm functionality
Caveat Standard GitLab minor version upgrade - review release notes for any deprecations; ensure database migrations complete successfully

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-2023-6489 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