GitLabApplication
CVE-2025-12669
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 · uneditedGitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 15.11 before 18.9.7, 18.10 before 18.10.6, and 18.11 before 18.11.3 that could have allowed an authenticated user to inject HTML and JavaScript into email notifications sent to other users due to improper input sanitization.
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 confidenceA stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in GitLab's email notification system allows authenticated users to inject malicious HTML and JavaScript into fields that are rendered in email notifications sent to other users. The vulnerability stems from improper input sanitization of user-supplied content before it is included in outbound emails.
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
>= 15.11.0, < 18.9.7>= 18.10.0, < 18.10.6>= 18.11.0, < 18.11.3CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed GitLab versionRun 'gitlab-rake gitlab:version' or check the /opt/gitlab/version file, or view the Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling > GitLab version panelAffected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 15.11.0 and < 18.9.7; >= 18.10.0 and < 18.10.6; >= 18.11.0 and < 18.11.3
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Confirm email notifications are enabledCheck the GitLab admin settings at Admin Area > Settings > Email > Email notifications, or inspect gitlab.yml configuration for 'email_enabled' or 'sendmail' settingsAffected if Email notifications are enabled and the GitLab version is vulnerable (see step 1)
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Identify user-controllable fields used in notificationsReview which user profile fields (such as name, bio, website URL, or custom fields) can be edited and are included in notification email templatesAffected if User-editable fields are included in outbound email content and the GitLab version is vulnerable (see step 1)
You are affected if your GitLab version is one of the vulnerable releases (15.11.0 through 18.9.6, 18.10.0 through 18.10.5, or 18.11.0 through 18.11.2) AND email notifications are enabled with user-generated content being rendered in outbound emails.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped18.9.718.10.618.11.3
Upgrade GitLab to version 18.9.7, 18.10.6, 18.11.3 or later. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, consider temporarily disabling or externally filtering email notifications containing user-generated content.
18.9.7 minimum; recommended: 18.11.3 or latest stable 18.x release
- 1. Back up your GitLab instance database and repositories before upgrading
- 2. Determine your current GitLab version in Admin Area > Settings > General > Version
- 3. Review GitLab upgrade documentation for your current version to the target version (https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/update/)
- 4. For versions before 18.9.7: upgrade to 18.9.7 first, then to a newer stable release
- 5. For versions 18.9.x: upgrade to 18.9.7 or later in the 18.9.x line
- 6. For versions 18.10.x: upgrade to 18.10.6 or later in the 18.10.x line
- 7. For versions 18.11.x: upgrade to 18.11.3 or later in the 18.11.x line
- 8. Run the upgrade using your installation method (omnibus package, source, or Helm chart)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in GitLab
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-12669 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12669 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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