CVE-2024-6826 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 10/24/2024
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 11.2 before 17.3.6, 17.4 before 17.4.3, and 17.5 before 17.5.1. A denial of service could occur via importing a malicious crafted XML manifest file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/13/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-6826 represents a critical denial of service weakness in GitLab Community and Enterprise editions that affects multiple version ranges including all versions from 11.2 through 17.3.5, 17.4 through 17.4.2, and 17.5 through 17.5.0. This flaw specifically manifests when the system processes imported XML manifest files, creating a potential attack vector that could disrupt normal service operations. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms within GitLab's XML parsing functionality, which fails to properly handle maliciously crafted XML content that could trigger resource exhaustion or system instability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the XML manifest import functionality within GitLab's codebase where the system attempts to parse and process external XML files without sufficient safeguards against malformed or malicious input. When an attacker uploads or imports a crafted XML manifest file containing specially designed elements, the parsing process becomes susceptible to resource exhaustion attacks or recursive processing that can lead to system unresponsiveness. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through user interaction with the GitLab import functionality, making it particularly dangerous in environments where automated import processes or third-party integrations are common.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-6826 extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the overall availability and integrity of GitLab installations. Organizations utilizing GitLab for version control, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development may experience complete service outages when malicious XML files are processed through the import mechanisms. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where GitLab is integrated with external systems that automatically import XML manifests or where users have the ability to upload files that undergo XML processing. The attack surface is broad as any user with sufficient privileges to import XML files could potentially exploit this weakness to cause denial of service across the entire GitLab instance.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-6826 should prioritize immediate patching of affected GitLab versions to the latest stable releases that contain the necessary fixes. Organizations should implement strict input validation controls and sanitize all XML content before processing, particularly for files imported from external sources. Network segmentation and access controls should be enforced to limit the scope of potential exploitation, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual import patterns or resource consumption spikes. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-400 which addresses unspecified denial of service conditions, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1499.004 which covers network denial of service attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing automated scanning solutions to identify and block malicious XML content before it reaches the GitLab import processing components. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to ensure that similar vulnerabilities are not present in other XML processing functionalities within the GitLab ecosystem.