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GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-6678

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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions before 16.8.6, all versions starting from 16.9 before 16.9.4, all versions starting from 16.10 before 16.10.2. It was possible for an attacker to cause a denial of service using malicious crafted content in a junit test report file.

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

A denial of service vulnerability exists in GitLab EE where maliciously crafted content in a junit test report file can cause the service to become unavailable. The vulnerability is triggered when GitLab processes a specially designed junit XML report.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to version 16.8.6, 16.9.4, 16.10.2 or later to remediate this 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:< 16.8.6>= 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. Identify GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin area under /admin/application_settings or look at /opt/gitlab/version-manifest.txt
    Affected if The displayed version falls within < 16.8.6, >= 16.9.0 but < 16.9.4, or >= 16.10.0 but < 16.10.2
  2. Confirm JUnit report processing is enabled
    Check if the 'Junit test report' CI/CD setting is enabled in project settings or if pipelines routinely upload junit XML reports via the `junit` artifact type
    Affected if Junit report processing is active and GitLab processes these reports in the affected version range
  3. Verify external attack surface
    Review pipeline configurations and merge request workflows to determine if untrusted parties can submit or modify junit test report artifacts
    Affected if Untrusted or external users can inject junit reports into the GitLab instance

The environment is affected if GitLab EE is running a version before 16.8.6, between 16.9.0-16.9.3, or between 16.10.0-16.10.1 AND the Junit test report feature is enabled.

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 EE to version 16.8.6, 16.9.4, 16.10.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.10.2 (or later 16.10.x release; alternatively 16.8.6 or later 16.8.x, or 16.9.4 or later 16.9.x)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance database and repositories before starting the upgrade
  2. 2. Identify your current GitLab installation method (Omnibus, source, Helm chart, etc.)
  3. 3. For Omnibus installations: Run 'sudo gitlab-ctl status' to check current version, then run 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'sudo yum install gitlab-ee' (RHEL/CentOS) to upgrade to the latest available version in your target minor release
  4. 4. For source installations: Follow the GitLab upgrade documentation for upgrading from your current version to 16.10.2 or later
  5. 5. After upgrade completes, run 'sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure' for Omnibus installations
  6. 6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the GitLab version at Admin Area > Settings > General > GitLab version
  7. 7. Test that GitLab is functioning properly, especially the junit test report parsing functionality
Caveat Standard GitLab minor version upgrades typically do not introduce breaking changes for end users; always review the release notes for any known issues or migration requirements before upgrading

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2023-6678 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