CVE-2023-2232 in GitLab
Summary
by MITRE • 06/29/2023
An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 15.10 before 16.1, leading to a ReDoS vulnerability in the Jira prefix
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/17/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-2232 represents a regular expression denial of service flaw within GitLab's integration with Jira, specifically affecting versions from 15.10 through 16.0. This issue resides in the handling of Jira prefix validation logic where maliciously crafted input can cause excessive backtracking in regular expressions, leading to system resource exhaustion and potential service disruption. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization in the Jira integration component that processes project identifiers and issue keys, creating a pathway for attackers to exploit the regular expression engine through carefully constructed malicious input patterns. The flaw is particularly concerning as it affects a core integration feature that many organizations rely upon for seamless project management and issue tracking synchronization between GitLab and Jira platforms.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the use of unoptimized regular expressions that are susceptible to catastrophic backtracking when processing malformed input strings. The specific pattern matching logic fails to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied Jira prefix data, allowing attackers to craft input sequences that cause the regular expression engine to perform exponential time complexity operations. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-400, which defines the weakness of uncontrolled resource consumption through regular expression complexity. The operational impact extends beyond simple service disruption as the vulnerability can be exploited through various attack vectors including API calls, web interface submissions, and potentially automated scanning tools that might target the Jira integration endpoints. Attackers can leverage this weakness to consume excessive CPU resources, leading to denial of service conditions that affect legitimate users and system availability.
The security implications of CVE-2023-2232 align with ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks through resource exhaustion, and T1595.001, which involves reconnaissance through active scanning and information gathering. Organizations using GitLab with integrated Jira functionality face significant risk as the vulnerability can be exploited by both authenticated and unauthenticated attackers depending on the specific implementation details and access controls in place. The attack surface is broadened by the fact that Jira prefix validation occurs during various operations including project creation, issue linking, and webhook processing, making the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where automated processes interact with the system. The vulnerability's impact is further amplified in high-traffic environments where the resource exhaustion can quickly overwhelm system resources and affect multiple concurrent users or processes.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-2232 should prioritize immediate patching to versions 16.1 or later where the regular expression validation has been properly optimized and input sanitization has been enhanced. Organizations should implement rate limiting and input validation at network boundaries to provide additional defense-in-depth measures while awaiting patch deployment. Security teams should monitor for suspicious API activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts and consider temporarily disabling Jira integration features until patches are applied. The vulnerability highlights the importance of regular expression security best practices and proper input validation as outlined in OWASP Top 10 security controls. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough testing of patched versions to ensure that the security improvements do not introduce regressions in legitimate functionality, particularly around complex Jira prefix handling and integration workflows that are critical to development operations and project management processes.