Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-7028 is a critical-severity Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password (CWE-640) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-12 (Identity Proofing) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
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-2023-7028 is a vulnerability in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition that affects all versions from 16.1 prior to 16.1.6, 16.2 prior to 16.2.9, 16.3 prior to 16.3.7, 16.4 prior to 16.4.5, 16.5 prior to 16.5.6, 16.6 prior to 16.6.4, and 16.7 prior to 16.7.2. The flaw allows user account password reset emails to be delivered to an unverified email address, corresponding to CWE-640 and carrying a CVSS 3.1 score of 10.0.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the issue over the network to trigger password resets that reach an attacker-controlled or unverified address, enabling full account takeover with impacts to confidentiality and integrity but not availability.
Advisories hosted at the referenced GitLab issue tracker and HackerOne report direct administrators to upgrade affected instances to the listed fixed releases. The associated EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.9650 with a current value of 0.9343.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-59219
Vulnerability Data
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 16.1 prior to 16.1.6, 16.2 prior to 16.2.9, 16.3 prior to 16.3.7, 16.4 prior to 16.4.5, 16.5 prior to 16.5.6, 16.6 prior to 16.6.4, and 16.7 prior to…
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16.7.2 in which user account password reset emails could be delivered to an unverified email address.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 01 May 2024
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Identity proofing at appropriate assurance levels ensures forgotten-password recovery cannot succeed without strong verification of the user.
Authenticator management requires secure distribution, reset, and verification procedures that directly address weak password recovery flows.
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.
Credential lifecycle management directly includes password reset/recovery flows.
Identity proofing is the core control that prevents weak or bypassed recovery mechanisms.
Authentication policy covers strength/MFA but does not address recovery path weaknesses.
Secure SDLC reduces implementation flaws but is not specific to password-recovery design.
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.
Strong authentication-information lifecycle rules directly address weak password-recovery flows.