CVE-2023-4002 in Enterprise Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 08/04/2023
An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 14.1 before 16.0.8, all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.3, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.2. It was possible for EE-licensed users to link any security policy project by its ID to projects or groups the user has access to, potentially revealing the security projects's configured security policies.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-4002 represents a critical access control flaw within GitLab Enterprise Edition that undermines the security isolation mechanisms designed to protect sensitive security policy configurations. This issue affects a broad range of GitLab versions including 14.1 through 16.0.7, 16.1 through 16.1.2, and 16.2 through 16.2.1, indicating a persistent weakness in the platform's permission handling systems that spans multiple release cycles. The flaw specifically targets the relationship between security policy projects and other projects or groups within the GitLab environment, creating a pathway for unauthorized information disclosure that violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and access isolation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of user permissions when establishing links between security policy projects and other GitLab entities. An attacker with an EE-licensed account can exploit this weakness by directly referencing any security policy project through its unique identifier, bypassing the normal access controls that should prevent unauthorized users from viewing or interacting with security configurations. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege as defined in the CWE-284 access control weakness classification, where users gain access to resources beyond their authorized scope. The vulnerability essentially allows for a form of privilege escalation or information disclosure that enables malicious actors to discover and potentially manipulate security policies configured in projects they should not normally have access to.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-4002 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it creates potential avenues for more sophisticated attacks within the GitLab environment. Security policy configurations often contain sensitive information about organizational security posture, including threat models, mitigation strategies, and compliance requirements that could be exploited by adversaries. This vulnerability enables attackers to map the security infrastructure of a GitLab instance, potentially identifying weak points in the organization's security framework and understanding the defensive measures that are in place. The risk is particularly elevated in environments where security policies are tightly integrated with development workflows, as this could provide attackers with insights into the security practices and controls that protect critical code repositories and infrastructure.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant security patches released by GitLab for versions 16.0.8, 16.1.3, and 16.2.2 respectively, while also reviewing existing project linkages and access controls to ensure no unauthorized connections have been established. The remediation process should include comprehensive auditing of security policy project relationships and verification that all access controls are properly enforced. From a defensive perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 related to credential access through unauthorized access to privileged accounts and systems, as it essentially allows for unauthorized access to security-critical information that would normally be protected by proper access controls. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and alerting mechanisms to detect unusual patterns of project access or linking activities that might indicate exploitation of this vulnerability.