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GitLabApplication

CVE-2024-1250

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.8.2 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 issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 16.8 before 16.8.2. When a user is assigned a custom role with manage_group_access_tokens permission, they may be able to create group access tokens with Owner privileges, 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

In GitLab EE versions 16.8 through 16.8.1, a user assigned a custom role with the manage_group_access_tokens permission can create group access tokens that possess Owner-level privileges, allowing them to escalate their effective permissions beyond what their assigned role should permit.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to version 16.8.2 or later which contains the fix for this privilege escalation 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:>= 16.8.0, < 16.8.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Check GitLab EE version
    Navigate to Admin Area > Dashboard or access /-/version endpoint to confirm the installed GitLab version
    Affected if Version is 16.8.0 or 16.8.1 (versions 16.8.0 through 16.8.1 are affected)
  2. Verify custom roles exist with manage_group_access_tokens permission
    Go to Admin Area > Roles (or Group Settings > Roles) and review custom role definitions to see if any role includes the manage_group_access_tokens permission
    Affected if A custom role with manage_group_access_tokens permission exists in the instance
  3. Identify users assigned custom roles with elevated permissions
    Review group members to find users assigned custom roles that include manage_group_access_tokens. Check the effective permission level granted by those roles.
    Affected if Users hold custom roles that include manage_group_access_tokens but should not have Owner-level access
  4. Audit group access token creation activity
    Review group audit logs (Group > Settings > Audit Events) for access_token_created events, noting which user accounts created tokens and whether those users have custom roles with manage_group_access_tokens
    Affected if Group access tokens were created by users who should not have Owner-level privileges based on their assigned custom role

You are affected if running GitLab EE versions 16.8.0 or 16.8.1 AND have custom roles with the manage_group_access_tokens permission, AND users with those roles have created group access tokens.

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 16.8.2 or later
Fixed in 16.8.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to version 16.8.2 or later which contains the fix for this privilege escalation vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

GitLab 16.8.2 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current GitLab version by checking the GitLab administration panel or running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  2. 2. Plan and schedule the upgrade during a maintenance window
  3. 3. Create a full backup of the GitLab instance using `gitlab-backup-create` or the Omnibus backup command
  4. 4. Upgrade GitLab to version 16.8.2 or later by following the official upgrade documentation for your installation method (Omnibus, source, or Docker)
  5. 5. After upgrade completion, verify the version with `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
  6. 6. Test that custom roles with manage_group_access_tokens permission can no longer create tokens with Owner privileges
Caveat Review GitLab 16.8 release notes for any other changes that may affect your instance, as minor version upgrades typically have low risk but may include behavior changes

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
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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-2024-1250 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