CVE-2019-7155 in Community
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition 9.x, 10.x, and 11.x before 11.5.8, 11.6.x before 11.6.6, and 11.7.x before 11.7.1. It has Incorrect Access Control.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-7155 represents a critical access control flaw affecting GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition versions spanning multiple release lines including 9.x, 10.x, and 11.x prior to specific patch versions. This issue stems from inadequate authorization mechanisms that allow unauthorized users to access protected resources within the GitLab platform. The vulnerability manifests when the system fails to properly validate user permissions during resource access operations, creating potential pathways for privilege escalation and unauthorized data exposure.
The technical implementation of this access control weakness involves improper validation of user roles and permissions within GitLab's authentication framework. Attackers can exploit this flaw by crafting specific requests that bypass normal access restrictions, potentially gaining read access to private repositories, project information, and other sensitive data that should be restricted to authorized personnel only. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and specifically targets GitLab's permission model, which is designed to enforce access control based on user roles, group memberships, and project-level permissions.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-7155 extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable attackers to compromise the integrity and confidentiality of source code repositories and associated project data. Organizations utilizing affected GitLab versions face significant risk of intellectual property theft, code exposure, and potential supply chain attacks if attackers leverage this vulnerability to access sensitive project information. The vulnerability affects both community and enterprise editions, making it particularly concerning for organizations that rely on GitLab for their software development workflows and version control operations.
Security professionals should note that this vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1566 for spearphishing with a link, as attackers may use compromised credentials to exploit this access control weakness. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected GitLab installations to address this vulnerability, while also implementing network segmentation and monitoring for unusual access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The remediation process requires updating to the patched versions specified in the advisory, which include 11.5.8, 11.6.6, and 11.7.1, ensuring that all GitLab instances are properly upgraded to maintain security posture against this and similar access control vulnerabilities.