Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-8974

Access Control in Gitlab 15.6.0 – 17.2.8

Access Control
Published
26 September 2024
Modified
04 October 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 2.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0028 20th percentile
Risk Priority 24 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-8974 is a low-severity Incorrect Provision of Specified Functionality (CWE-684) vulnerability in Gitlab Gitlab. Its CVSS base score is 2.6 (Low).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 20th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Information disclosure in Gitlab EE/CE affecting all versions from 15.6 prior to 17.2.8, 17.3 prior to 17.3.4, and 17.4 prior to 17.4.1 in specific conditions it was possible to disclose to an unauthorised user the path of a private project."

CWE(s)
CWE-684CWE-863

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may bypass UAC mechanisms to elevate process privileges on system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may perform sudo caching and/or use the sudoers file to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-0934Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-3396Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-0765Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-11669Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2024-8116Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-0652Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2023-5009Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-12555Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2025-11340Same product: Gitlab Gitlab
CVE-2026-2619Same product: Gitlab Gitlab

Affected Assets

gitlab
gitlab
17.4.0 · 15.6.0 — 17.2.8 · 15.6.0 — 17.2.8 · 17.3.0 — 17.3.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 6 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

AC-3 directly requires correct enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally preventing incorrect checks.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions good match

AC-24 ensures access-control decisions are made and applied consistently, reducing the chance of an incorrect authorization result.

AC-25 Reference Monitor good match

A reference monitor that is always invoked and tamper-proof forces every authorization decision through a verified, correct path.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation activities are performed precisely to discover when delivered functionality fails to match published specifications.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

Least-privilege assignments shrink the set of authorizations that must be checked correctly, limiting exposure to flawed checks.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring a documented development process and supporting tools reduces the chance that specified functionality will be implemented incorrectly.

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.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining, enforcing, and reviewing access authorizations and least privilege directly prevents incorrect authorization checks.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly enforce spec-compliant functionality and testing, while eliminating this weakness fulfills only part of the control's broader monitoring intent.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development and acceptance validates that implemented functionality conforms to specifications before release.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

Requiring consistency between access rights and classification plus formal approval steps ensures that the authorization logic correctly distinguishes between entities that should and should not be granted access.

A.5.18 Access rights partial match
prevents

Enforcing policy-driven approval and role-change reviews stops incorrect or stale authorization decisions from remaining in effect after job changes or terminations.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle includes requirements and verification activities that directly reduce the risk of delivering functionality that deviates from published specifications.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Explicit application security requirements and acceptance criteria help ensure the delivered software matches its intended specifications.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
prevents

By tying access rights to identity, device, location and classification, the control reduces the likelihood that an authorization decision will be based on an incorrect or bypassed policy.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204430 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must re-authenticate for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-251712 The RHEL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-863
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-258078 RHEL 9 must use a Linux Security Module configured to enforce limits on system services. prevents CWE-684

References