CVE-2023-2200 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 07/13/2023
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 7.14 before 15.11.10, all versions starting from 16.0 before 16.0.6, all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.1, which allows an attacker to inject HTML in an email address field.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/02/2023
This vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE represents a cross-site scripting flaw that enables attackers to inject malicious HTML code into email address fields, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity. The issue affects a broad range of versions from 7.14 through 16.1.0, making it a significant concern for organizations maintaining older GitLab installations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and output encoding mechanisms within the email field processing logic, allowing malicious actors to embed HTML content that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
The technical exploitation occurs when an attacker registers or modifies an email address containing HTML injection payloads that can be rendered in various user interfaces and notification systems. This flaw directly maps to CWE-79 which describes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities where untrusted data is improperly sanitized before being rendered in web pages. The vulnerability can be leveraged to execute malicious scripts in the victim's browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, data exfiltration, or further privilege escalation within the GitLab environment.
Operationally, this vulnerability poses substantial risk to organizations relying on GitLab for code repository management and collaboration. Attackers could exploit this weakness to steal user authentication tokens, access private repositories, or manipulate project data through malicious scripts executed in victim browsers. The impact extends beyond simple XSS as it can facilitate more sophisticated attacks including phishing campaigns where users might be tricked into revealing sensitive information or performing unauthorized actions within the GitLab interface. The vulnerability affects both the web UI and email notifications, amplifying its potential attack surface and making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where GitLab serves as a central collaboration platform.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to the patched versions 15.11.10, 16.0.6, or 16.1.1 respectively to mitigate this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include implementing strict input validation for email fields, enabling Content Security Policy headers to restrict script execution, and conducting regular security assessments of user input handling mechanisms. Security teams should also monitor for suspicious user registration patterns and implement web application firewalls to detect and block potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering tactics including phishing, as the injected HTML could be used to create convincing fraudulent email content that exploits user trust. Organizations should also review their email notification configurations and consider implementing additional sanitization layers to prevent similar issues in other components of their GitLab deployment.