CVE-2019-6789 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition before 11.5.8, 11.6.x before 11.6.6, and 11.7.x before 11.7.1. It allows Information Disclosure (issue 4 of 6). In some cases, users without project permissions will receive emails after a project move. For private projects, this will disclose the new project namespace to an unauthorized user.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/18/2023
The vulnerability described in CVE-2019-6789 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within GitLab's access control mechanisms that affects multiple versions of the GitLab platform. This issue specifically targets the project migration functionality and demonstrates a failure in proper permission validation during project namespace changes. The vulnerability exists in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition installations running versions prior to 11.5.8, 11.6.6, and 11.7.1 respectively, indicating a widespread impact across the platform's release cycle. The flaw manifests when users without appropriate project permissions receive email notifications following a project move operation, creating an unauthorized information disclosure channel that violates fundamental security principles of access control and information flow.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient authorization checks during project migration processes within GitLab's backend systems. When a project is moved from one namespace to another, the system fails to properly validate whether the requesting user possesses adequate permissions to view the new project namespace information. This failure occurs at the notification generation stage, where the system sends email alerts to users who may not have legitimate access to the project's new location. The vulnerability specifically affects private projects where the namespace information disclosure represents a significant security risk, as it reveals organizational structure and project hierarchies that unauthorized users should not be able to access. This represents a violation of the principle of least privilege and demonstrates inadequate input validation and access control enforcement.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-6789 extends beyond simple information disclosure, potentially enabling reconnaissance activities by malicious actors who can map project structures and identify sensitive organizational information. Attackers could exploit this vulnerability to discover private project namespaces, understand team structures, and potentially identify other related projects or repositories within the same organization. The vulnerability affects the integrity of GitLab's permission model and could facilitate further attacks by providing attackers with information needed for targeted exploitation of other systems within the organization. Organizations using affected GitLab versions face increased risk of insider threats and external reconnaissance activities, as unauthorized users can gain visibility into project movement activities that should remain restricted to authorized personnel.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected GitLab installations to versions 11.5.8, 11.6.6, or 11.7.1 respectively, depending on the current platform version. System administrators should implement comprehensive access control reviews and ensure that all project migration operations include proper permission validation before notification generation. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically related to insufficient access control during resource operations. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring for project migration activities and notification patterns that could indicate unauthorized access attempts. This vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1087.001 Account Discovery, as it enables unauthorized users to discover project structures and access information that should remain confidential. Regular security audits of GitLab configurations and permission settings should be conducted to prevent similar access control failures and maintain the integrity of source code management systems.