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GitLabApplication

CVE-2025-14513

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.7.6 / 18.8.6 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 16.11 before 18.7.6, 18.8 before 18.8.6, and 18.9 before 18.9.2 that could have allowed an unauthenticated user to cause a denial of service condition due to improper input validation when processing specially crafted JSON payloads in the protected branches API.

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 attacker can send specially crafted JSON payloads to GitLab's protected branches API, causing a denial of service due to improper input validation. This affects all GitLab CE/EE versions from 16.11 through 18.9.1.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 18.7.6, 18.8.6, 18.9.2 or later to receive the patch. As an interim measure, restrict network access to the protected branches API endpoint if possible.

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, < 18.7.6>= 18.8.0, < 18.8.6>= 18.9.0, < 18.9.2

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
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. Identify GitLab version
    Log into the GitLab administration area and navigate to the version information page, or run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` from the GitLab server console to display installed version details
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 16.11.0 to 18.7.5, 18.8.0 to 18.8.5, or 18.9.0 to 18.9.1
  2. Verify protected branches feature is in use
    Check if any project or group within the GitLab instance has protected branches configured by reviewing project settings or querying the API at /api/v4/projects/:id/protected_branches
    Affected if Protected branches are defined and the API endpoint is accessible to unauthenticated attackers on the network
  3. Confirm network exposure of protected branches API
    Review firewall rules, reverse proxy configuration, and GitLab instance network bindings to determine if the /api/v4/projects/*/protected_branches endpoint is reachable from untrusted networks
    Affected if The API endpoint is exposed to the internet or untrusted internal networks without authentication requirements

You are affected if your GitLab version is 16.11.0 through 18.7.5, 18.8.0 through 18.8.5, or 18.9.0 through 18.9.1 and the protected branches API is network-accessible to unauthenticated 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 18.7.6 / 18.8.6 / 18.9.2 or later
Fixed in 18.7.618.8.618.9.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 18.7.6, 18.8.6, 18.9.2 or later to receive the patch. As an interim measure, restrict network access to the protected branches API endpoint if possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

18.9.2 (or latest stable 18.x release)

  1. Backup your GitLab instance database and configuration before upgrading
  2. Ensure you have sufficient downtime window for the upgrade process
  3. For GitLab installations using the official omnibus package: run 'sudo gitlab-ctl stop' to stop services
  4. Upgrade GitLab to version 18.9.2 (or the latest 18.x stable release that includes this fix) using your package manager
  5. For omnibus: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce (or gitlab-ee) or follow your distribution's upgrade procedure
  6. For source installations: follow the upgrade path in GitLab documentation for your installation method
  7. After upgrade completes, run 'sudo gitlab-ctl start' to start services
  8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking GitLab version and ensuring the application is functioning normally
Caveat Review GitLab 18.9 release notes for any known issues or configuration changes before upgrading

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
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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-2025-14513 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