CVE-2025-5982 in Enterprise Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 06/12/2025
An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions from 12.0 before 17.10.8, 17.11 before 17.11.4, and 18.0 before 18.0.2. Under certain conditions users could bypass IP access restrictions and view sensitive information.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/12/2025
This vulnerability in GitLab Enterprise Edition represents a critical access control flaw that undermines the security posture of organizations relying on IP-based restrictions for sensitive repository and project data. The issue affects multiple version ranges including 12.0 through 17.9.9, 17.10.0 through 17.10.3, and 17.11.0 through 17.11.3, indicating a prolonged period of exposure across the GitLab product lifecycle. The vulnerability specifically targets the IP access restriction mechanisms that administrators configure to limit access to certain projects or repositories based on source IP addresses, creating a potential backdoor for unauthorized users to bypass these security controls.
The technical implementation flaw appears to stem from insufficient validation or enforcement of IP-based access controls within GitLab's authentication and authorization framework. When users attempt to access restricted resources, the system should verify that the requesting IP address falls within the allowed ranges configured by administrators. However, this vulnerability allows malicious actors to circumvent these checks through specific request patterns or by exploiting gaps in the IP validation logic. The flaw likely involves improper handling of HTTP headers, request routing, or network address validation that enables bypass of the intended access controls. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues, specifically targeting improper access control mechanisms that allow unauthorized access to protected resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access to potentially exposing sensitive source code, configuration files, and other intellectual property to unauthorized parties. Organizations that rely on IP restrictions as part of their security strategy may find their most critical repositories accessible to external threat actors who can leverage this bypass to gain insights into development processes, security configurations, and potentially identify additional attack vectors. The exposure could lead to data breaches, intellectual property theft, and compromise of development environments that may contain sensitive information about upcoming products, security measures, or internal infrastructure details. This vulnerability particularly affects organizations with strict compliance requirements or those handling sensitive government, financial, or healthcare data where unauthorized access could result in significant regulatory penalties.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate patching of affected GitLab instances to versions 17.10.8, 17.11.4, or 18.0.2, depending on the current version in use. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring of access logs to detect unusual patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly around requests from unexpected IP addresses or unusual access patterns. Network administrators should consider implementing additional layers of security such as VPN access controls or multi-factor authentication for critical repositories. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of comprehensive security testing including penetration testing and code reviews of access control mechanisms, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1078 Valid Accounts and T1566 Phishing to highlight how bypassing access controls can enable further compromise. Organizations should also review their existing IP restriction policies to ensure they are properly implemented and monitored, as this vulnerability underscores the critical need for robust access control validation mechanisms that cannot be easily circumvented by attackers.