CVE-2024-9623 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 10/10/2024
An issue was discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 8.16 prior to 17.2.9, starting from 17.3 prior to 17.3.5, and starting from 17.4 prior to 17.4.2, which allows deploy keys to push to an archived repository.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/11/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-9623 represents a critical access control flaw in GitLab Community and Enterprise editions that has persisted across multiple version ranges. This issue fundamentally undermines the security model of repository management by allowing unauthorized modifications through deploy keys even when repositories have been archived. The flaw affects versions from 8.16 through 17.2.8, 17.3 through 17.3.4, and 17.4 through 17.4.1, creating a substantial window of exposure for organizations using these platforms. The vulnerability specifically targets the repository archiving mechanism, which is designed to prevent further modifications to repositories that are no longer actively maintained or have been deprecated.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of repository states during deploy key operations. When a repository is archived, the system should enforce read-only access and prevent any write operations including pushes, merges, and modifications. However, the flaw allows deploy keys to bypass these state-based access controls, effectively permitting malicious actors or compromised keys to continue pushing changes to repositories that should be immutable. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and undermines the fundamental security assumptions of repository lifecycle management. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of access control and state management, where the system fails to properly check repository status before authorizing deploy key operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to encompass potential data integrity breaches and supply chain compromises. Organizations relying on GitLab for source code management and deployment automation face significant risks when deploy keys can circumvent repository archiving policies. This flaw particularly affects CI/CD pipelines that utilize deploy keys for automated deployments, as compromised keys could be used to inject malicious code into archived repositories or to modify historical code bases. The vulnerability creates a persistent threat vector that remains active until the affected versions are patched, potentially allowing attackers to maintain access to sensitive code repositories long after they should have been secured. This issue aligns with CWE-693, which addresses protection mechanism failures in access control systems, and represents a specific implementation gap in GitLab's repository state enforcement mechanisms.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of GitLab, reviewing and revoking existing deploy keys, and implementing additional access controls for archived repositories. The recommended approach involves applying the security patches released by GitLab for versions 17.2.9, 17.3.5, and 17.4.2 respectively, while simultaneously conducting thorough audits of deploy key usage and repository access policies. Additional defensive measures should include monitoring for unauthorized repository modifications, implementing more granular access controls, and establishing automated alerts for repository state changes. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving privilege escalation and persistence through legitimate credentials, as attackers can leverage deploy keys to maintain access to repositories that should be secured. The vulnerability also intersects with techniques related to credential access and defense evasion, as the compromised keys can be used to maintain long-term access without detection, making it particularly dangerous for organizations with extensive GitLab deployments.