CVE-2023-1071 in GitLab
Summary
by MITRE • 04/06/2023
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions from 15.5 before 15.8.5, all versions starting from 15.9 before 15.9.4, all versions starting from 15.10 before 15.10.1. Due to improper permissions checks it was possible for an unauthorised user to remove an issue from an epic.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/03/2025
This vulnerability in GitLab represents a critical authorization flaw that undermines the integrity of project management workflows within the platform. The issue affects multiple version ranges including 15.5 through 15.8.4, 15.9 through 15.9.3, and 15.10 through 15.10.0, indicating a widespread impact across the GitLab ecosystem. The vulnerability stems from inadequate permission validation mechanisms that fail to properly verify user authorization levels before allowing destructive operations on project artifacts. This flaw specifically enables unauthorized users to remove issues from epics, which represents a significant breach in access control and project data integrity. The technical implementation appears to lack proper access control checks that should validate whether the requesting user possesses the necessary privileges to modify or remove items from project epics. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-285 category of improper authorization, which is classified as a fundamental access control weakness in software systems. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data loss, as it compromises the collaborative nature of project management within GitLab. When unauthorized users can manipulate issue assignments within epics, it creates confusion in project tracking, disrupts team workflows, and potentially exposes sensitive project information to individuals who should not have such access rights. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers valid accounts and credential access, as it allows unauthorized access to project management functionality through insufficient permission validation. The implications are particularly severe for organizations that rely heavily on GitLab's epic and issue tracking features for project coordination and release management. When an attacker exploits this vulnerability, they can effectively disrupt project timelines, manipulate deliverable tracking, and potentially hide malicious activities within legitimate project structures. Organizations using GitLab in environments where project data integrity is paramount face significant risk from this vulnerability, as it allows for undetected manipulation of critical project artifacts. The remediation process requires immediate patching of affected versions to ensure proper authorization checks are enforced for all epic-related operations. The vulnerability demonstrates a clear failure in the principle of least privilege, where users should only have access to perform operations that are explicitly authorized for their role within the project hierarchy. This type of authorization bypass represents a fundamental flaw in the application's security architecture and requires comprehensive review of all permission validation mechanisms within the GitLab platform. The fix should ensure that all operations involving issue removal from epics require proper authorization checks that validate user roles, project membership, and appropriate access levels before allowing the operation to proceed. Organizations should implement immediate monitoring of epic-related activities and user access patterns to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security audits and penetration testing to identify similar authorization flaws in complex software systems. Proper implementation of access control measures should include multi-factor validation, role-based access controls, and comprehensive logging of all privileged operations to maintain accountability and traceability of project management activities.