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GitLabApplication

CVE-2025-2853

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.10.7 / 17.11.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions before 17.10.7, 17.11 before 17.11.3, and 18.0 before 18.0.1. A lack of proper validation in GitLab could allow an authenticated user to cause a denial of service condition.

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 · moderate confidence

GitLab CE/EE versions prior to 17.10.7, 17.11.3, and 18.0.1 contain a validation flaw that allows authenticated users to trigger a denial of service condition through malformed input or requests that the system fails to properly validate, causing resource exhaustion or service disruption.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 17.10.7, 17.11.3, 18.0.1 or later. For systems that cannot immediately upgrade, consider limiting authenticated user access and implementing rate limiting on API endpoints as a temporary measure.

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:< 17.10.7>= 17.11.0, < 17.11.3= 18.0.0

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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
    Log into the GitLab admin area and view the version information, or run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' on the server, or query the API endpoint /api/v4/version
    Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 17.10.7, or falls between 17.11.0 and 17.11.2 inclusive, or is exactly 18.0.0
  2. Identify GitLab edition
    Check whether the installation is Community Edition (CE) or Enterprise Edition (EE) - this CVE affects both editions
    Affected if The installation is either CE or EE and the version falls into the affected ranges listed in step 1
  3. Confirm authenticated user access exists
    Review whether the GitLab instance permits authenticated user accounts - the vulnerability requires an authenticated user to trigger the DoS condition
    Affected if The instance allows authenticated user registration or has existing user accounts beyond just admin accounts

You are affected if your GitLab version is earlier than 17.10.7, is 17.11.0-17.11.2, or is exactly 18.0.0, and you have authenticated users who can access the system.

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 17.10.7 / 17.11.3 or later
Fixed in 17.10.717.11.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 17.10.7, 17.11.3, 18.0.1 or later. For systems that cannot immediately upgrade, consider limiting authenticated user access and implementing rate limiting on API endpoints as a temporary measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GitLab 17.10.7, 17.11.3, or 18.0.1 (whichever is the next stable release in your version branch)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance database and configuration files
  2. 2. Ensure you have a snapshot or backup of the GitLab server for rollback capability
  3. 3. For GitLab installations using Omnibus: run 'gitlab-ctl stop' to stop services
  4. 4. Update GitLab to version 17.10.7, 17.11.3, or 18.0.1 depending on your current version
  5. 5. For Omnibus: run 'apt-get update && apt-get install gitlab-ce' (or 'gitlab-ee' for Enterprise Edition)
  6. 6. After upgrade, run 'gitlab-ctl reconfigure'
  7. 7. Run 'gitlab-ctl start' to restart services
  8. 8. Verify GitLab is functioning correctly and the DoS vulnerability is patched
Caveat Review GitLab release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and the target version before upgrading

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

Fix this in GitLab Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-2853 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