CVE-2023-4018
Gitlab 16.2 – 16.2.5
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-4018 is a medium-severity Forced Browsing (CWE-425) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 4.3 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 32th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-53911
Vulnerability Data
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.5, all versions starting from 16.3 before 16.3.1. Due to improper permission validation it was possible to create model experiments in public projects.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Forcing a decision on every access request, including direct ones, reduces the exploitability of forced browsing by ensuring no unchecked access paths.
Forces all accesses through the reference monitor, preventing direct or forced requests that bypass checks.
Enforcing access for all logical requests prevents unauthorized direct access to protected resources.
Displaying the notification before further access on public systems prevents direct resource requests from bypassing the required system use terms and consent.
Decoy endpoints catch forced browsing and direct requests, deflecting attackers from legitimate resources while enabling analysis.
Blocks unauthorized direct requests or forced browsing by denying input access to non-authorized actors.
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.
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 can detect forced-browsing flaws, but the control itself does not prevent them in production.
Information access restriction implements the technical enforcement that directly blocks unauthorized direct requests.
Access control policy directly requires authorization checks on all resources, preventing forced browsing.
Managing access rights ensures every URL/script/file is explicitly authorized, mitigating direct request attacks.
Privileged access rights control enforces least-privilege checks on restricted endpoints.
Secure SDLC can include authorization design, yet the control itself does not guarantee runtime enforcement.