CVE-2024-6324 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 01/09/2025
An issue was discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 15.7 prior to 17.5.5, starting from 17.6 prior to 17.6.3, and starting from 17.7 prior to 17.7.1. It was possible to trigger a DoS by creating cyclic references between epics.
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-6324 represents a denial of service weakness in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition platforms that affects multiple version ranges. This security flaw enables malicious actors to disrupt normal system operations by exploiting the software's handling of epic relationships within project management features. The issue specifically manifests when users create cyclic references between epics, which are hierarchical project management elements used to organize and track work items across development cycles.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms within GitLab's epic relationship handling code. When cyclic references are established between epics, the system enters an infinite loop during processing operations, causing resource exhaustion and ultimately rendering the affected GitLab instance unavailable to legitimate users. This weakness operates at the application layer and demonstrates a classic denial of service vulnerability pattern where normal system behavior is disrupted through malformed input processing. The flaw affects the core project management functionality and can be triggered through the standard user interface or API endpoints that manage epic relationships.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-6324 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire GitLab instance availability. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by creating malicious epic relationships that cause the system to consume excessive CPU and memory resources until the service becomes unresponsive. This vulnerability affects organizations relying on GitLab for their development workflows, as it can be exploited by both external attackers and internal malicious users with appropriate permissions. The DoS condition can persist until manual intervention occurs, requiring system administrators to identify and resolve the cyclic reference issues, which may involve complex database cleanup operations and system restarts.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations by applying the patched versions mentioned in the advisory, specifically upgrading to GitLab 17.5.5, 17.6.3, or 17.7.1 depending on their current version. System administrators should also consider implementing monitoring solutions that can detect unusual resource consumption patterns and cyclic reference creation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which classifies improper resource management as a fundamental weakness in software design. From an attack framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to the attack technique T1499.004 from the ATT&CK framework, representing "Endpoint Denial of Service" where adversaries target application-level resources to prevent legitimate users from accessing services. Additional defensive measures include implementing rate limiting on epic relationship creation operations and establishing automated processes to detect and alert on potential cyclic reference patterns within project management data structures.