CVE-2022-1428 in GitLab
Summary
by MITRE • 05/11/2022
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions before 14.8.6, all versions starting from 14.9 before 14.9.4, all versions starting from 14.10 before 14.10.1. GitLab was incorrectly verifying throttling limits for authenticated package requests which resulted in limits not being enforced.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/13/2022
This vulnerability in GitLab represents a critical access control flaw that undermines the platform's security posture by allowing unauthorized resource consumption through package requests. The issue affects multiple version ranges including 14.8.6 and below, 14.9.0 through 14.9.3, and 14.10.0 through 14.10.0, indicating a widespread impact across the GitLab ecosystem. The vulnerability stems from improper implementation of rate limiting mechanisms that are fundamental to protecting system resources and preventing abuse. This flaw directly violates security principles outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and aligns with CWE-307, which addresses improper restriction of excessive authenticated operations. The vulnerability exists in the package repository functionality where authenticated users can potentially overwhelm system resources through repeated requests without proper enforcement of throttling limits.
The technical implementation flaw manifests when GitLab fails to properly validate or enforce rate limiting parameters for authenticated package requests, creating a pathway for resource exhaustion attacks. Attackers can exploit this by making excessive package requests that would normally be restricted by configured limits, potentially leading to denial of service conditions for legitimate users. This weakness enables abuse scenarios where malicious actors can consume disproportionate system resources, impact service availability, and potentially degrade performance for other authenticated users. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and represents a failure in the authorization and access control mechanisms that should prevent excessive usage patterns. According to ATT&CK framework, this maps to T1499.004 which covers resource exhaustion, and T1566.002 which involves social engineering through phishing, as attackers could exploit this to disrupt services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple performance degradation to encompass potential service disruption and resource exhaustion across GitLab installations. Organizations using affected versions face increased risk of denial of service conditions, where legitimate users may be unable to access package repositories due to resource exhaustion caused by abusive requests. This vulnerability can particularly affect organizations that rely heavily on GitLab's package registry functionality, as it undermines the integrity of the access control mechanisms designed to protect system resources. The flaw also creates opportunities for attackers to perform reconnaissance and identify system weaknesses, potentially leading to further exploitation attempts. System administrators must be aware that this vulnerability can be leveraged to create sustained performance degradation without requiring special privileges beyond authentication access.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate upgrade to patched versions including GitLab 14.8.6, 14.9.4, and 14.10.1 respectively, as these releases contain the necessary fixes for the rate limiting implementation. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring controls to detect unusual patterns in package request volumes and establish more granular access controls for package repositories. Network-level rate limiting solutions can provide additional protection layers, though these should not replace proper application-level fixes. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and implement logging controls to track package access patterns. The remediation process should include verification that rate limiting configurations are properly enforced and that system resources are adequately protected against excessive authenticated requests. Organizations should also review their overall security posture to ensure that similar access control flaws do not exist in other components of their GitLab installations.