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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 22 May 2024.
GitLabApplication

CVE-2023-7028

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-01-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.1.6 / 16.2.9 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit 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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 16.1 prior to 16.1.6, 16.2 prior to 16.2.9, 16.3 prior to 16.3.7, 16.4 prior to 16.4.5, 16.5 prior to 16.5.6, 16.6 prior to 16.6.4, and 16.7 prior to 16.7.2 in which user account password reset emails could be delivered to an unverified email address.

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 CE/EE versions 16.1 through 16.7.x contained a vulnerability in the password reset mechanism where verification of email address ownership was not properly enforced, allowing password reset emails to be delivered to unverified email addresses. This enables account takeover if an attacker knows a username and has access to an unverified email address.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 16.1.6, 16.2.9, 16.3.7, 16.4.5, 16.5.6, 16.6.4, or 16.7.2 (or later) to patch the email verification bypass in the password reset flow.

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:>= 16.1.0, < 16.1.6>= 16.2.0, < 16.2.9>= 16.3.0, < 16.3.7>= 16.4.0, < 16.4.5>= 16.5.0, < 16.5.6>= 16.6.0, < 16.6.4>= 16.7.0, < 16.7.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 installed GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:version` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: 16.1.0 to 16.1.5, 16.2.0 to 16.2.8, 16.3.0 to 16.3.6, 16.4.0 to 16.4.4, 16.5.0 to 16.5.5, 16.6.0 to 16.6.3, or 16.7.0 to 16.7.1
  2. Confirm password-based authentication is enabled
    Access GitLab admin area under Settings > General > Sign-up restrictions and verify if password authentication is set to enabled for users
    Affected if Password-based authentication is enabled in the GitLab instance settings
  3. Verify user email verification settings
    Check the GitLab configuration file (gitlab.rb) for `gitlab_rails['gitlab_email_verification_enabled']` setting or inspect the admin panel under Settings > Preferences > Email settings
    Affected if Email verification is disabled or not enforced for user accounts

Your environment is affected if you are running any GitLab version between 16.1.0 and 16.7.1 within the specified ranges and password-based authentication is enabled, allowing password reset emails to be sent to unverified email addresses.

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 16.1.6 / 16.2.9 / 16.3.7 or later
Fixed in 16.1.616.2.916.3.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 16.1.6, 16.2.9, 16.3.7, 16.4.5, 16.5.6, 16.6.4, or 16.7.2 (or later) to patch the email verification bypass in the password reset flow.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.1.6, 16.2.9, 16.3.7, 16.4.5, 16.5.6, 16.6.4, or 16.7.2 (choose the appropriate version for your upgrade path)

  1. Backup your GitLab instance data and configuration before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. Review GitLab's official upgrade documentation for your current version to ensure proper upgrade path
  3. Upgrade to one of the fixed releases: 16.1.6, 16.2.9, 16.3.7, 16.4.5, 16.5.6, 16.6.4, or 16.7.2
  4. For self-managed installations, follow the standard GitLab upgrade procedure (stop GitLab, install new packages, reconfigure, restart)
  5. After upgrade, verify that password reset emails are only sent to verified email addresses by testing the password reset flow
  6. Ensure all user email addresses in the system are properly verified going forward
Caveat Major version upgrades may have breaking changes; review GitLab release notes before upgrading across multiple minor versions

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

Fix this in GitLab Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2023-7028 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