Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-1708

RCE in Gitlab 1.0.0 – 15.8.5

Published
05 April 2023
Modified
10 February 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.011 63th percentile
Risk Priority 53 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-1708 is a medium-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 5.7 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 37% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2023-1708 affects GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition in all versions from 1.0 up to but not including 15.8.5, 15.9.4, and 15.10.1. The flaw allows non-printable characters to be copied from the clipboard in a manner that can result in unexpected commands executing on the machine where the content is later pasted. It is tracked under CWE-77 and CWE-94 with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.7.

An authenticated attacker with low privileges can prepare content containing the problematic characters and make it available through GitLab. A victim who copies that content and pastes it into a terminal or command interpreter on their local system will execute the injected commands, producing an integrity impact without requiring further authentication on the victim machine.

GitLab has published fixes in the referenced security releases and maintains a CVE record detailing the affected ranges. Administrators are expected to upgrade to 15.8.5, 15.9.4, or 15.10.1 (or newer) to eliminate the issue.

The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0902 with no material increase after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An issue was identified in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 1.0 prior to 15.8.5, 15.9 prior to 15.9.4, and 15.10 prior to 15.10.1 where non-printable characters gets copied from clipboard, allowing unexpected commands to be executed on victim machine.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2021-22205Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2026-1516Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-6051Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-1178Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-3401Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-5226Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-5512Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-3958Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2026-1606Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-5101Same product: Gitlab Gitlab

Affected Assets

gitlab
gitlab
15.10.0 · 1.0.0 — 15.8.5 · 1.0.0 — 15.8.5 · 15.9.0 — 15.9.4

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

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.

addresses: CWE-94

Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.

addresses: CWE-94

Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.

addresses: CWE-94

Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.

addresses: CWE-94

Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.

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.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

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.

prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References