CVE-2024-0410 in GitLab
Summary
by MITRE • 02/22/2024
An authorization bypass vulnerability was discovered in GitLab affecting versions 15.1 prior to 16.7.6, 16.8 prior to 16.8.3, and 16.9 prior to 16.9.1. A developer could bypass CODEOWNERS approvals by creating a merge conflict.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/03/2024
This authorization bypass vulnerability in GitLab represents a significant security flaw that undermines the code review and approval processes that organizations rely upon for maintaining software quality and security. The vulnerability specifically affects GitLab installations across multiple version ranges including 15.1 through 16.7.5, 16.8 through 16.8.2, and 16.9 through 16.9.0, creating a persistent risk for organizations that depend on CODEOWNERS functionality for access control and code governance. The flaw allows malicious or unauthorized developers to circumvent the intended approval mechanisms that are designed to ensure code changes receive proper review and authorization before integration into production codebases.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from how GitLab handles merge conflict resolution within its CODEOWNERS approval system. When a merge conflict occurs during the code integration process, the system fails to properly validate the authorization status of the developer attempting to resolve the conflict. This creates an exploitable condition where an attacker can manipulate the merge process to bypass the required CODEOWNERS approvals, effectively allowing unauthorized code changes to be merged without proper review. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of version control system functionality and access control mechanisms, exploiting a gap in the validation logic that should prevent such bypass scenarios. This represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks during critical operations, which aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization in software systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code integrity concerns to potentially compromise entire software development pipelines and security postures. Organizations relying on CODEOWNERS for enforcing security policies, compliance requirements, and quality standards face significant risk when this vulnerability is exploited. Attackers could leverage this bypass to introduce malicious code, backdoors, or security vulnerabilities into production codebases without triggering the intended approval workflows. The consequences could include data breaches, system compromises, and regulatory compliance violations, particularly in environments where code review processes are mandated by security frameworks such as NIST SP 800-53 or ISO 27001. The vulnerability also impacts the principle of least privilege by allowing unauthorized access to code integration processes that should be restricted to authorized personnel.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected GitLab installations to versions 16.7.6, 16.8.3, or 16.9.1 respectively, depending on the current installation version. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring controls to detect unusual merge activity patterns and unauthorized code modifications. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of their CODEOWNERS configurations to ensure proper access controls are in place and regularly review merge request activities for signs of exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date software systems and highlights the need for robust authorization controls in collaborative development environments. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and defense evasion, as attackers could use it to bypass security controls while remaining undetected in the system's access control mechanisms. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security measures such as automated code scanning, continuous integration security checks, and enhanced logging of merge operations to provide better visibility into potential exploitation attempts and maintain overall system integrity.