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GitLabApplication

CVE-2024-6323

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.11.5 / 17.0.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper authorization in global search in GitLab EE affecting all versions from 16.11 prior to 16.11.5 and 17.0 prior to 17.0.3 and 17.1 prior to 17.1.1 allows an attacker leak content of a private repository in a public project.

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

Improper authorization in GitLab EE's global search feature allows authenticated attackers to bypass access controls and leak content from private repositories embedded within public projects. This authorization bypass occurs because the global search does not properly enforce repository-level access controls when searching across projects.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab EE to version 16.11.5, 17.0.3, 17.1.1 or later to resolve the authorization flaw in global search.

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:>= 16.11.0, < 16.11.5>= 17.0.0, < 17.0.3= 17.1.0

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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. Identify GitLab EE version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the GitLab admin panel under Help > Version to find the installed GitLab Enterprise Edition version.
    Affected if The version falls within 16.11.0 to 16.11.4, 17.0.0 to 17.0.2, or is exactly 17.1.0.
  2. Confirm global search is enabled
    In the GitLab admin area, go to Settings > General > Search and verify that the global search feature is not disabled, or check the `global_search_enabled` setting in the gitlab.rb configuration file.
    Affected if Global search is enabled (this is the default in EE editions).
  3. Identify public projects with embedded private repositories
    Review projects that are set to Public visibility and contain cross-references or embedded content from private repositories. Use the API endpoint `GET /projects?visibility=public` to list public projects, then examine each for references to private projects.
    Affected if The GitLab instance hosts public projects that embed or reference content from private repositories.
  4. Verify authenticated user access to global search
    Confirm that authenticated (non-admin) users have access to global search functionality. Check under Settings > General > Search settings for any restrictions on search scope.
    Affected if Authenticated users can access global search and search across multiple projects.

Your environment is affected if you run a vulnerable GitLab EE version (16.11.0-16.11.4, 17.0.0-17.0.2, or 17.1.0) with global search enabled and have public projects that contain references to private repository content.

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 16.11.5 / 17.0.3 or later
Fixed in 16.11.517.0.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab EE to version 16.11.5, 17.0.3, 17.1.1 or later to resolve the authorization flaw in global search.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 16.11.5+, 17.0.3+, or 17.1.1+ (preferably 17.1.1 or later for latest security patches)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data before proceeding
  2. 2. Plan maintenance window as upgrade may require downtime
  3. 3. For GitLab 16.11.x users: upgrade to version 16.11.5 or later
  4. 4. For GitLab 17.0.x users: upgrade to version 17.0.3 or later
  5. 5. For GitLab 17.1.0 users: upgrade to version 17.1.1 or later
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify global search authorization works correctly and private repository content is not exposed in public projects
Caveat Major version upgrades may require database migrations; review GitLab upgrade documentation for specific version paths

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
Get the upgrade done

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-2024-6323 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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