CVE-2018-14602 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition before 10.8.7, 11.0.x before 11.0.5, and 11.1.x before 11.1.2. Information Disclosure can occur because the Prometheus metrics feature discloses private project pathnames.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/27/2023
This vulnerability exists in GitLab versions prior to 10.8.7, 11.0.5, and 11.1.2 where the Prometheus metrics feature unintentionally exposes private project pathnames through information disclosure mechanisms. The flaw resides in how GitLab handles metric collection and exposure, specifically when the Prometheus integration is enabled. When users access the Prometheus metrics endpoint, they can inadvertently retrieve sensitive information about private projects including their full paths within the GitLab instance. This represents a significant security concern as it violates the fundamental principle of information hiding and can expose internal project structures to unauthorized parties. The vulnerability is classified as an information disclosure issue that can be exploited by attackers who have access to the metrics endpoint, potentially allowing them to enumerate private projects and understand the organizational structure of repositories within the GitLab instance.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access controls and filtering mechanisms within the Prometheus metrics collection process. When GitLab's Prometheus integration is configured, it collects various metrics from the system including repository information. However, the implementation fails to properly sanitize or filter the data being exposed through the metrics endpoint, allowing private project paths to be included in the metric output. This occurs because the system does not distinguish between public and private project data when generating the metrics, resulting in sensitive information leakage. The flaw demonstrates poor input validation and output sanitization practices, which aligns with CWE-200 - Information Exposure and CWE-668 - Improper Control of a Resource Through Time Window. Attackers can leverage this to perform reconnaissance activities and gather intelligence about the organization's private project structure, potentially enabling more sophisticated attacks against specific repositories.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially enable more serious security threats. An attacker who gains access to the Prometheus metrics endpoint could map out all private projects within a GitLab instance, identifying sensitive repositories and potentially discovering project-specific vulnerabilities or configuration weaknesses. This information can be used to prioritize attack vectors, target specific projects for exploitation, or conduct social engineering attacks based on the knowledge of project names and structures. The exposure of private project paths can also violate privacy policies and compliance requirements, particularly in regulated environments where the disclosure of internal project structures may constitute a violation of data protection standards. Organizations using GitLab in production environments are particularly vulnerable as this information can be used to plan targeted attacks against specific repositories or development teams. The vulnerability affects both Community and Enterprise editions, indicating a widespread impact across different GitLab deployment types and scales.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to GitLab versions 10.8.7, 11.0.5, or 11.1.2 to remediate this vulnerability. The upgrade process should be carefully planned to ensure minimal disruption to development workflows while addressing the security gap. Additionally, administrators should review their Prometheus integration configurations to ensure that only necessary metrics are exposed and that proper access controls are implemented. Network segmentation and authentication mechanisms should be strengthened around the metrics endpoints to prevent unauthorized access. The vulnerability highlights the importance of regular security updates and the need for comprehensive security testing of integration features. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual access patterns to metrics endpoints and establish incident response procedures for potential information disclosure events. This remediation effort should be part of a broader security posture assessment that includes reviewing other integration points and ensuring proper data classification and access control mechanisms are in place. The fix implemented in the patched versions demonstrates proper access control implementation and data sanitization to prevent sensitive information leakage through metrics exposure.