CVE-2023-2825
Path Traversal in Gitlab 16.0.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-2825 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.6% 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-2023-2825 is a path traversal vulnerability, tracked as CWE-22, that affects only GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition version 16.0.0. The flaw permits an unauthenticated attacker to read arbitrary files on the server when an attachment is present in a public project nested inside at least five groups, and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 10.0 reflecting network-exploitable conditions with no required authentication or user interaction.
An unauthenticated malicious user can leverage the issue to access sensitive files stored on the GitLab server, resulting in full compromise of confidentiality and integrity while availability remains unaffected. The attack requires the specific nesting and attachment conditions described in the advisory.
The supplied references consist of GitLab’s official CVE JSON record, the associated issue tracker entry, and a HackerOne report that document the vulnerability and its scope. The EPSS score for this CVE currently stands at 0.9193 with a recorded peak of 0.9307, indicating sustained high exploitation probability.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-34276
Vulnerability Data
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting only version 16.0.0. An unauthenticated malicious user can use a path traversal vulnerability to read arbitrary files on the server when an attachment exists in a public project nested within at…
more
least five groups.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
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.
Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.
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.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
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.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.