CVE-2022-2230 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 07/01/2022
A Stored Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability in the project settings page in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 14.4 prior to 14.10.5, 15.0 prior to 15.0.4, and 15.1 prior to 15.1.1, allows an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript code in GitLab on a victim's behalf.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/18/2022
The stored cross-site scripting vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2230 represents a critical security flaw in GitLab's project settings page functionality that has persisted across multiple version lines including 14.4 through 14.10.4, 15.0 through 15.0.3, and 15.1 through 15.1.0. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting and specifically manifests as a stored XSS condition where malicious JavaScript code can be permanently injected into the application's database and subsequently executed whenever authenticated users access the vulnerable project settings page. The flaw exploits the insufficient input validation and output sanitization mechanisms within GitLab's web interface, particularly in how user-supplied data is processed and rendered in the project configuration contexts. Security researchers have identified that this vulnerability enables attackers to establish persistent malicious payloads that can remain dormant until triggered by legitimate users with appropriate privileges, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where GitLab serves as a central code repository and collaboration platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution to encompass potential data exfiltration, session hijacking, and privilege escalation attacks within the GitLab ecosystem. When authenticated users with appropriate access levels navigate to affected project settings pages, their browsers execute the malicious JavaScript code within the context of their own GitLab sessions, potentially allowing attackers to access sensitive repository information, modify project configurations, or even escalate their privileges to administrative levels. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that once a malicious payload is injected, it remains active indefinitely until manually removed from the system, creating a persistent threat vector that can affect any user who accesses the compromised project settings. This vulnerability particularly impacts organizations that rely heavily on GitLab for source code management and CI/CD pipeline configuration, as project settings often contain sensitive information and configuration parameters that could be exploited for further attacks within the development infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-2230 require immediate implementation of version updates to GitLab CE/EE releases 14.10.5, 15.0.4, and 15.1.1 respectively, which contain the necessary patches to address the input validation gaps that enable the XSS exploitation. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures including comprehensive input sanitization policies, content security policy enforcement, and regular security scanning of project settings and configuration pages. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper output encoding and input validation in web applications, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter and T1566.002 for Phishing. Administrators should conduct thorough audit reviews of project settings and user permissions to identify any potential compromise, while implementing web application firewalls and monitoring systems to detect anomalous script execution patterns. Additionally, security teams should consider implementing automated scanning tools that can identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities in other web applications within the organization's infrastructure, as this type of flaw commonly appears in applications that handle user-generated content through configuration interfaces.