CVE-2022-1406 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 05/11/2022
Improper input validation in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 8.12 prior to 14.8.6, all versions from 14.9.0 prior to 14.9.4, and 14.10.0 allows a Developer to read protected Group or Project CI/CD variables by importing a malicious project
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/14/2022
This vulnerability represents a critical access control flaw in GitLab Community and Enterprise editions that allows unauthorized users to bypass security protections for CI/CD variables. The issue stems from insufficient input validation during project import operations, specifically when processing maliciously crafted project data that contains crafted CI/CD variable references. The vulnerability affects multiple version ranges including all releases from 8.12 through 14.8.5, versions 14.9.0 through 14.9.3, and version 14.10.0, making it a widespread concern across many GitLab installations. The flaw is categorized under CWE-20, which represents improper input validation, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for data from information repositories, as it enables unauthorized access to sensitive configuration data.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability occurs during the project import process where GitLab fails to properly validate or sanitize the CI/CD variable definitions contained within imported projects. When a malicious user with Developer privileges imports a project containing crafted variable references, the system does not adequately verify the permissions or access controls associated with these variables. This allows the attacker to access protected CI/CD variables that should normally be restricted to project maintainers or administrators. The vulnerability exploits the trust model inherent in GitLab's import functionality, where imported project data is not sufficiently validated against existing access controls and security boundaries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables a low-privilege Developer role to escalate their access and obtain sensitive information that could include API keys, database credentials, or other confidential deployment parameters. This represents a privilege escalation attack vector that undermines the principle of least privilege within GitLab's security model. The ability to read protected CI/CD variables can lead to compromise of entire deployment pipelines, potential data breaches, and unauthorized access to production environments. The vulnerability particularly affects organizations that rely heavily on CI/CD automation and store sensitive credentials within GitLab's variable management system.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to patched versions of GitLab, specifically versions 14.8.6, 14.9.4, or 14.10.1, respectively, to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls around GitLab instances to limit exposure. The mitigation strategy should include reviewing and tightening CI/CD variable access controls, implementing regular audits of imported projects, and monitoring for unauthorized project imports. Security teams should also consider implementing automated scanning tools that can detect malicious project imports and establish incident response procedures for potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of validating all imported data against existing security policies and demonstrates the critical need for robust input validation in collaborative development platforms.