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GitLabApplication

CVE-2025-14870

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 18.9.7 / 18.10.6 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 18.5 before 18.9.7, 18.10 before 18.10.6, and 18.11 before 18.11.3 that could have allowed an unauthenticated user to cause denial of service by sending specially crafted JSON payloads due to insufficient input validation.

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 cause denial of service in GitLab CE/EE by sending specially crafted JSON payloads to affected versions (18.5 through 18.9.6, 18.10 through 18.10.5, and 18.11 through 18.11.2). The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation in the JSON parser, allowing malformed requests to exhaust server resources or crash the service.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 18.9.7, 18.10.6, 18.11.3 or later to apply the patched input validation for JSON payloads.

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:>= 18.5.0, < 18.9.7>= 18.10.0, < 18.10.6>= 18.11.0, < 18.11.3

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. Check GitLab version via command line
    Run `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or check the package version with `dpkg -l | grep gitlab-ee` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `rpm -qa | grep gitlab` (RHEL/CentOS)
    Affected if The installed version falls within 18.5.0 to 18.9.6, 18.10.0 to 18.10.5, or 18.11.0 to 18.11.2
  2. Check GitLab version via web interface
    Log into the GitLab web interface as an admin, navigate to the Admin Area, and locate the version information typically shown on the dashboard or in the help section
    Affected if The displayed version falls within the affected ranges listed above
  3. Check GitLab version via API
    Send an unauthenticated or authenticated request to `GET /api/v4/version` on your GitLab instance
    Affected if The version returned matches one of the affected version ranges
  4. Verify the instance is exposed to network
    Determine if GitLab HTTP/HTTPS endpoints are accessible from network locations where unauthenticated attackers could send requests
    Affected if The GitLab instance accepts JSON payloads from unauthenticated or publicly accessible network paths

You are affected if your GitLab installation version is 18.5.0 through 18.9.6, 18.10.0 through 18.10.5, or 18.11.0 through 18.11.2 and the JSON parser component is accessible to send crafted payloads.

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 18.9.7 / 18.10.6 / 18.11.3 or later
Fixed in 18.9.718.10.618.11.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 18.9.7, 18.10.6, 18.11.3 or later to apply the patched input validation for JSON payloads.

Recommended fix High confidence

18.11.3

  1. Determine current GitLab version by running `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info` or checking the GitLab admin area
  2. Identify which version range your current installation falls into (18.5.x-18.8.x, 18.10.x, or 18.11.x)
  3. Follow the official GitLab upgrade documentation for your installation type (Omnibus or source)
  4. For Omnibus installations: Run `sudo gitlab-ctl stop` before upgrading
  5. Upgrade using your package manager (e.g., `apt-get install gitlab-ce` or `yum install gitlab-ce` depending on your OS)
  6. Run `sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure` after package installation
  7. Run `sudo gitlab-ctl restart` to apply changes
  8. Verify upgrade completed successfully by checking version with `gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info`
Caveat Review GitLab release notes for any required migrations or configuration changes between your current and target version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2025-14870 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