CVE-2025-13611 in Community Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 11/26/2025
GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 13.2 before 18.5.5 and 18.6 before 18.6.3 that could have allowed an authenticated user with access to certain logs to obtain sensitive tokens under specific conditions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/31/2026
This vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE represents a critical authorization flaw that could enable authenticated users to access sensitive tokens through log files under specific conditions. The issue affects versions prior to 18.5.5 and 18.6.3, indicating a prolonged exposure window where organizations using affected GitLab installations were potentially at risk. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of token exposure within log file contexts, creating a path for privilege escalation through log data access. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of information disclosure and privilege escalation, where legitimate users can exploit system logging mechanisms to gain access to credentials they should not possess. The flaw specifically targets authenticated users who have access to certain log files, suggesting that the vulnerability does not rely on external exploitation but rather on compromised user accounts or insider threats. Such vulnerabilities are particularly concerning in development environments where log files may contain sensitive information including API tokens, authentication credentials, and other security tokens. The impact extends beyond simple credential theft as these tokens could potentially provide access to additional systems, repositories, or services that rely on the compromised tokens. According to CWE standards, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-200, which addresses information exposure, and CWE-798, which covers the use of hard-coded credentials. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this under privilege escalation and credential access techniques, specifically targeting T1566 for credential access through legitimate credentials and T1078 for valid accounts. The remediation process required GitLab to implement proper log sanitization and access controls to prevent token leakage through logging mechanisms, ensuring that sensitive information is not inadvertently exposed in system logs. Organizations must ensure comprehensive log management practices including regular log audits, access controls, and proper token rotation procedures to mitigate similar risks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability likely involves GitLab's logging system not properly sanitizing or filtering sensitive data before writing it to log files. When users with access to specific logs could potentially view token information, it suggests that the application was not adequately masking or redacting sensitive data during logging operations. This could occur in various contexts such as API responses, webhook deliveries, or internal process communications where tokens might be logged for debugging purposes. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of principle of least privilege in logging systems where even authenticated users should not have access to sensitive information that could compromise system security. The fact that this issue affected multiple version ranges indicates that the root cause was likely a systemic logging implementation flaw that persisted across several releases. Security teams should implement monitoring for log files containing sensitive data patterns and establish automated systems to detect potential token exposure. This vulnerability underscores the critical need for secure coding practices in logging mechanisms and proper input validation to prevent sensitive data leakage. Organizations using GitLab should conduct thorough security assessments of their logging configurations and ensure that all sensitive information is properly masked or removed from log outputs. The remediation efforts required by GitLab involved implementing stricter logging controls and access restrictions for log files containing potentially sensitive information, ensuring that system administrators cannot inadvertently expose tokens through normal operational logging processes. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the importance of comprehensive security testing, particularly around logging and monitoring systems where sensitive data may be inadvertently exposed through normal operational procedures.