dbcve.org
GitLabApplication

CVE-2025-5121

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 17.11.4 / 18.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 from 17.11 before 17.11.4 and 18.0 before 18.0.2. A missing authorization check may have allowed compliance frameworks to be applied to projects outside the compliance framework's group.

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

A missing authorization check in GitLab CE/EE versions 17.11 prior to 17.11.4 and 18.0 prior to 18.0.2 allows compliance frameworks to be applied to projects outside the intended compliance framework's group, enabling unauthorized access to compliance controls and configurations.

MitigationUpgrade GitLab to version 17.11.4, 18.0.2, or later to patch the missing authorization check in the compliance framework functionality.

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:>= 17.11.0, < 17.11.4>= 18.0.0, < 18.0.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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 installed GitLab version
    Navigate to Admin Area > Overview > Dashboard, or visit the /help page, or run 'gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' from the server console
    Affected if Version is 17.11.0-17.11.3 or 18.0.0-18.0.1 (vulnerable versions)
  2. Identify compliance frameworks in use
    Go to Group > Settings > Compliance frameworks to list all defined compliance frameworks, or query the compliance framework API endpoint
    Affected if Any compliance frameworks exist in the GitLab instance
  3. Review projects with compliance framework assignments
    Check each project's Settings > Compliance frameork page, or use the API to list projects with compliance_framework_id set, verifying the project group hierarchy
    Affected if Projects are assigned compliance frameworks from groups outside their own group hierarchy

If running a vulnerable GitLab version and compliance frameworks are assigned to projects outside their owning groups, the environment is affected by this authorization bypass.

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 17.11.4 / 18.0.2 or later
Fixed in 17.11.418.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GitLab to version 17.11.4, 18.0.2, or later to patch the missing authorization check in the compliance framework functionality.

Recommended fix High confidence

GitLab 17.11.4 (for 17.11.x branches) or GitLab 18.0.2 (for 18.0.x branches)

  1. 1. Back up your GitLab instance (database and repositories) before starting the upgrade
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window as GitLab upgrades typically require downtime
  3. 3. For Omnibus installations: stop GitLab with 'sudo gitlab-ctl stop', then update via your package manager (e.g., 'sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gitlab-ce' or 'sudo apt-get install gitlab-ee')
  4. 4. For source installations: follow the official GitLab upgrade documentation for your installation method
  5. 5. After installation, run 'sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure' to apply configuration changes
  6. 6. Restart GitLab with 'sudo gitlab-ctl restart'
  7. 7. Verify upgrade success by running 'sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info' and confirming the version number
  8. 8. Verify the fix by testing that compliance frameworks cannot be applied to projects outside the compliance framework's group
Caveat Review the 17.11.4 and 18.0.2 release notes for any breaking changes relevant to your instance configuration before upgrading

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
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,752.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-5121 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-5121 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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