CVE-2019-9485 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition before 11.6.10, 11.7.x before 11.7.6, and 11.8.x before 11.8.1. It has Insecure Permissions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/06/2024
This vulnerability in GitLab versions prior to the mentioned patches represents a critical insecure permissions flaw that allows unauthorized users to access restricted resources within the platform. The issue stems from inadequate access control mechanisms that fail to properly validate user permissions when accessing project-specific content, particularly affecting the repository and file system operations. The vulnerability enables attackers to bypass normal access restrictions and potentially gain access to sensitive project data, code repositories, and configuration files that should be restricted to authorized personnel only.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the application's failure to properly enforce permission checks during various API endpoints and web interface operations. Specifically, when users attempt to access certain project resources, the system does not adequately verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary privileges to view or interact with the target content. This weakness creates a path for privilege escalation where unauthenticated or low-privileged users can access resources they should not normally be able to reach, particularly affecting project-level permissions and repository access controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can enable more sophisticated attacks including data exfiltration, code manipulation, and potential lateral movement within the GitLab environment. Attackers can exploit this flaw to discover sensitive information such as source code, configuration files, and other project artifacts that may contain credentials, API keys, or other confidential data. The vulnerability affects both community and enterprise editions, making it particularly concerning for organizations that rely on GitLab for version control and collaboration, as it undermines the fundamental security model of the platform.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately upgrade to the patched versions 11.6.10, 11.7.6, or 11.8.1 respectively, as these releases contain the necessary fixes to properly enforce access controls and permission validation. Additional mitigations include implementing network-level restrictions to limit access to GitLab instances, enabling multi-factor authentication, and conducting thorough audits of existing project permissions to identify any potential unauthorized access that may have occurred. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which specifically addresses inadequate access control, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege that should be maintained in all security-sensitive applications. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique where adversaries leverage insecure permissions to gain elevated access to systems and data within the organization's infrastructure.