CVE-2023-5207
Published: 30 September 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-5207 is a high-severity Execution with Unnecessary Privileges (CWE-250) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 43.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
A vulnerability in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition permits an authenticated attacker to trigger arbitrary pipeline execution while impersonating another user. The flaw affects all versions from 16.0 prior to 16.2.8, from 16.3 prior to 16.3.5, and from 16.4 prior to 16.4.1, and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.2 reflecting high confidentiality and integrity impact under conditions of high attack complexity and scoped change.
An authenticated attacker with low privileges can exploit the issue over the network without user interaction to run pipelines in the context of a different user, thereby obtaining unauthorized access to that user’s resources and actions while avoiding direct impact on availability.
The referenced GitLab issues and HackerOne report point to remediation through application of the listed patched releases, which close the pipeline execution path.
EPSS remained low after disclosure but rose materially to a peak of 0.0718 on 2025-01-22 before receding, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest that warrants renewed attention.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-57538
Vulnerability details
A vulnerability was discovered in GitLab CE and EE affecting all versions starting 16.0 prior to 16.2.8, 16.3 prior to 16.3.5, and 16.4 prior to 16.4.1. An authenticated attacker could perform arbitrary pipeline execution under the context of another user.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
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.
Policy promotes least privilege by defining necessary privileges and management commitment to them.
Supervision detects and allows removal of unnecessary privileges that enable execution with excess rights.
Reviewing accounts for compliance, disabling/removing unneeded accounts, and aligning with termination processes prevents execution with unnecessary privileges.
Separation of duties prevents any single user from holding all privileges needed to complete a critical task, directly reducing execution with unnecessary privileges.
Directly prevents execution with more privileges than needed for assigned tasks.
Role-based training on least privilege principles reduces the chance personnel assign or retain unnecessary privileges.
Analysis of audit records can identify execution with unnecessary privileges through unusual activity patterns.
Automatic termination after a defined period eliminates unnecessary privileges from persistent connections.