CVE-2023-5612
Published: 26 January 2024
Summary
CVE-2023-5612 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 3.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions before 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1. The vulnerability allows unauthorized access to user email addresses through the tags feed, even when email visibility has been explicitly disabled in the user profile settings. It is tracked under CWE-862 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.3 reflecting network-accessible exploitation with low attack complexity and limited confidentiality impact.
Unauthenticated remote attackers can retrieve the email addresses by requesting the affected tags feed endpoint, bypassing the intended profile visibility controls and obtaining information that should remain restricted.
GitLab security advisories direct administrators to upgrade immediately to 16.6.6, 16.7.4, or 16.8.1 depending on the installed release line; the associated issue and HackerOne report provide additional technical context on the fix. The EPSS values reached a peak of 0.3241 with a current score of 0.2562.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-57905
Vulnerability details
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions before 16.6.6, 16.7 prior to 16.7.4, and 16.8 prior to 16.8.1. It was possible to read the user email address via tags feed although the visibility in the user profile…
more
has been disabled.
- 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.
Requiring an access control policy ensures authorization checks are defined and applied for critical functions.
Reviews of access controls detect missing authorization checks on critical functions or resources.
Documenting permitted unauthenticated actions prevents missing authorization by making all exceptions explicit and subject to organizational review.
Requiring attribute association with information prevents authorization from being performed without necessary security or privacy context.
Mandating authorization prior to allowing remote connections addresses missing authorization for remote access.
Mandating authorization before wireless connections are allowed prevents missing authorization for wireless access.
The control requires authorization before allowing mobile device connections, directly mitigating missing authorization for system access.
Requiring approvals for account creation and specifying authorizations ensures authorization is not missing for system access.