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GitLabApplication

CVE-2024-3976

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.9.7 / 16.10.5 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 CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 14.0 prior to 16.9.7, starting from 16.10 prior to 16.10.5, and starting from 16.11 prior to 16.11.2. It was possible to disclose via the UI the confidential issues title and description from a public project to unauthorised instance users.

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 UI-based information disclosure vulnerability in GitLab allows unauthorized instance users to view confidential issue titles and descriptions from public projects via the web interface. The flaw exists in how the UI handled access control for confidential issues in public projects.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 16.9.7, 16.10.5, 16.11.2 or later to patch the 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:>= 14.0.0, < 16.9.7>= 16.10.0, < 16.10.5>= 16.11.0, < 16.11.2

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Determine GitLab version
    Navigate to the GitLab administration area or run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` to retrieve the installed GitLab version
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected ranges: >=14.0.0 and <16.9.7, OR >=16.10.0 and <16.10.5, OR >=16.11.0 and <16.11.2
  2. Identify public projects with confidential issues
    Use the GitLab API or web interface to list public projects, then check for issues marked as confidential. You can query: `GET /issues?state=opened&confidential=true` via API with appropriate credentials
    Affected if Public projects exist that contain confidential issues, creating the conditions for potential exploitation
  3. Verify user access configuration
    Check if non-member or external users have access to the GitLab instance. Review the instance-level access settings and public project visibility settings in the administration panel
    Affected if The instance allows user registration or has non-admin users who are not members of the affected public projects
  4. Test issue visibility via web interface
    As a low-privilege or unauthorized user (such as a guest or external user), attempt to access a confidential issue in a public project through the web UI by navigating directly to the issue URL
    Affected if A user without proper authorization can view the title and description of a confidential issue in a public project through the web interface

You are affected if your GitLab version is within the vulnerable ranges AND you have public projects containing confidential issues accessible to unauthorized instance 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 16.9.7 / 16.10.5 / 16.11.2 or later
Fixed in 16.9.716.10.516.11.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 16.9.7, 16.10.5, 16.11.2 or later to patch the vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

16.9.7, 16.10.5, or 16.11.2 (recommended: 16.11.2 or latest stable)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data before proceeding with the upgrade
  2. 2. Review GitLab upgrade documentation for your deployment method (Omnibus, source, or Docker)
  3. 3. Plan for appropriate maintenance window as upgrade may require downtime
  4. 4. Upgrade to one of the fixed versions: 16.9.7, 16.10.5, or 16.11.2
  5. 5. For Omnibus installations: sudo gitlab-ctl restart
  6. 6. For source installations: restart the GitLab service
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade completed successfully and GitLab is functioning normally
  8. 8. Test that confidential issues in public projects are no longer visible to unauthorized users
Caveat GitLab upgrades may include database migrations; review release notes for any known issues or required pre-upgrade steps

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
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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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-2024-3976 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