CVE-2019-10113 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition before 11.7.8, 11.8.x before 11.8.4, and 11.9.x before 11.9.2. Making concurrent GET /api/v4/projects/<id>/languages requests may allow Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/21/2023
This vulnerability affects GitLab instances running versions prior to the specified patches, specifically targeting the API endpoint for retrieving project language information. The issue manifests when multiple concurrent requests are made to the /api/v4/projects/<id>/languages endpoint, creating a condition where the system fails to properly manage resource allocation and processing. The flaw represents a classic denial of service scenario where legitimate users can exhaust system resources through carefully crafted concurrent requests. This vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise environments where GitLab serves as a central code repository and collaboration platform, as it can effectively disrupt service availability for all users.
The technical root cause involves improper handling of concurrent requests within the language detection algorithm that GitLab employs when processing project information. When multiple GET requests are made simultaneously to the languages endpoint for the same or different projects, the system fails to implement adequate rate limiting or resource throttling mechanisms. This allows the processing threads or processes to become overwhelmed, consuming excessive CPU cycles and memory resources. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which catalogs issues related to uncontrolled resource consumption, and specifically demonstrates how concurrent access patterns can lead to system degradation. The flaw operates at the application layer, making it particularly difficult to detect through network-based monitoring systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption, as it can affect the entire GitLab platform performance and user experience. Organizations relying on GitLab for continuous integration and deployment workflows may experience cascading failures that impact their development pipelines and release schedules. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to perform resource exhaustion attacks against GitLab servers, potentially leading to complete service outages. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in cloud environments where resource consumption directly impacts billing and performance SLAs. From an attacker's perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact vector that requires minimal technical expertise to execute successfully.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected GitLab versions to the recommended secure releases, which include 11.7.8, 11.8.4, and 11.9.2 respectively. Organizations should implement additional rate limiting measures at the network level or reverse proxy configuration to prevent excessive concurrent requests to the vulnerable endpoint. Monitoring systems should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of concurrent API requests that could indicate exploitation attempts. The implementation of proper resource management and connection pooling mechanisms can help prevent the accumulation of processing threads. Security teams should also consider implementing automated alerting for sustained high-traffic patterns on API endpoints, as recommended by the ATT&CK framework's resource exhaustion tactics. Regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar issues in other components of the GitLab platform and its integrations.