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GitLabApplication

CVE-2025-14511

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.7.5 / 18.8.5 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
GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 12.2 before 18.7.5, 18.8 before 18.8.5, and 18.9 before 18.9.1 that could have allowed an unauthenticated user to cause denial of service by sending specially crafted files to the container registry event endpoint under certain conditions.

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

An unauthenticated denial of service vulnerability exists in GitLab's container registry event endpoint. An attacker can send specially crafted files to trigger excessive resource consumption or service disruption without requiring authentication.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 18.7.5, 18.8.5, 18.9.1 or later. Alternatively, restrict unauthenticated access to the container registry event endpoint as a compensating control.

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:>= 12.2.0, < 18.7.5>= 18.8.0, < 18.8.5= 18.9.0

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Determine installed GitLab version
    Run `sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and Dashboards for the GitLab version, or inspect /opt/gitlab/version
    Affected if Version is >= 12.2.0 and < 18.7.5, OR >= 18.8.0 and < 18.8.5, OR equals 18.9.0
  2. Verify container registry is enabled
    Navigate to Admin Area > Settings > Registry in the GitLab web UI and confirm the registry is enabled, or check the gitlab.rb config file for `registry['enable'] = true`
    Affected if Container registry is enabled in the GitLab instance
  3. Confirm unauthenticated registry access is allowed
    In GitLab Admin Area > Settings > Registry, check if the option 'Allow unauthenticated access to the container registry' is enabled, or check gitlab.rb for `registry['enable_unauthenticated_access'] = true`
    Affected if Unauthenticated or anonymous access to the container registry is permitted

A GitLab instance is affected if it runs a vulnerable version AND has the container registry enabled with unauthenticated access allowed, allowing remote attackers to trigger resource exhaustion via the registry event endpoint.

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 18.7.5 / 18.8.5 or later
Fixed in 18.7.518.8.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 18.7.5, 18.8.5, 18.9.1 or later. Alternatively, restrict unauthenticated access to the container registry event endpoint as a compensating control.

Recommended fix High confidence

GitLab 18.9.1 or later (or 18.7.5+/18.8.5+ depending on your starting version)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance data and configuration before upgrading.
  2. 2. Identify your current GitLab version by running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the GitLab admin area.
  3. 3. For GitLab versions >= 12.2.0 and < 18.7.5: Plan upgrade path to 18.7.5 or later (recommended 18.9.1 or later).
  4. 4. For GitLab versions >= 18.8.0 and < 18.8.5: Plan upgrade path to 18.8.5 or later (recommended 18.9.1 or later).
  5. 5. For GitLab version 18.9.0: Plan upgrade to 18.9.1 or later.
  6. 6. Follow GitLab's official upgrade documentation for your installation method (Omnibus, source, or Helm chart).
  7. 7. Run `gitlab-ctl reconfigure` after upgrading.
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful and GitLab is functioning normally.
Caveat Review GitLab's release notes for breaking changes between your current version and target version, as major version jumps may include breaking changes

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 / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2025-14511 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