Security Resilience

CVE-2023-1265

Auth Bypass in Gitlab 11.9 – 15.9.6

Auth Bypass
Published
03 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 5.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0078 55th percentile
Risk Priority 40 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-1265 is a medium-severity Session Fixation (CWE-384) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 45% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A07:2025 Authentication Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 11.9 before 15.9.6, all versions starting from 15.10 before 15.10.5, all versions starting from 15.11 before 15.11.1. The condition allows for a privileged attacker, under certain conditions, to…

more

obtain session tokens from all users of a GitLab instance.

CWE(s)
CWE-384

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.005 VNC Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-6515Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-1198Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-11668Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-4278Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2026-1282Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-12653Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-6678Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-2001Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-1347Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2026-13320Same product: Gitlab Gitlab

Affected Assets

gitlab
gitlab
11.9 — 15.9.6 · 15.10 — 15.10.5 · 15.11 — 15.11.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V4.4.4
  • V7.6.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

AC-12 Session Termination
addresses: CWE-384

Session termination after a set interval shortens the usable lifetime of a fixed session identifier, making successful exploitation of session fixation more difficult.

IA-11 Re-authentication
addresses: CWE-384

Re-authentication typically forces issuance of a new session, limiting the window for exploitation of a previously fixed session identifier.

SC-23 Session Authenticity
addresses: CWE-384

Enforces proper session ID generation and binding, preventing fixation of a known session token.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-01 partial match
blocks

Managing identities and credentials includes handling session identifiers as temporary credentials that must be invalidated on re-authentication.

PR.AA-03 partial match
blocks

Proper authentication processes must invalidate prior session identifiers to prevent fixation attacks.

PR.AA-04 partial match
blocks

Protecting and verifying identity assertions encompasses secure handling and regeneration of session tokens.

PR.PS-01 partial match
blocks

Configuration baselines can enforce session regeneration and timeout settings that block fixation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References