CVE-2026-6267 in GitLab
Summary
by MITRE • 07/29/2026
GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 10.1.0 before 19.0.5, 19.1 before 19.1.3, and 19.2 before 19.2.1 that under certain conditions could have allowed an authenticated user with Developer role to access unauthorized information due to insufficient access controls on internal request handling.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/29/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical access control weakness in GitLab's internal request processing mechanism that could enable privilege escalation through improper authorization checks. The flaw existed across multiple version ranges including 10.1.0 through 19.0.4, 19.1.0 through 19.1.2, and 19.2.0 through 19.2.0, affecting both Community Edition and Enterprise Edition installations. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of user permissions during internal request handling processes where authenticated users with Developer role privileges could potentially access resources they should not be authorized to view.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves GitLab's internal API routing and permission checking mechanisms failing to properly enforce access controls when processing certain types of requests. This creates a scenario where a malicious actor with minimal privileges can leverage the system's internal request handling logic to bypass normal authorization boundaries. The vulnerability is classified as a weakness in authorization controls under CWE-285, specifically manifesting as improper access control during internal service communication.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability represents a significant risk to organizations relying on GitLab for source code management and collaboration. A successful exploitation could allow attackers with Developer-level access to potentially view confidential project information, including code repositories, issue trackers, and other sensitive data that should be restricted to higher-privileged users or administrators. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as it undermines the fundamental security model of GitLab's role-based access control system.
The attack surface for this vulnerability is particularly concerning given the typical permissions structure of GitLab environments where Developer roles often have broad access to project resources while still maintaining some level of separation from administrative functions. This weakness allows for lateral movement within projects and could potentially enable attackers to gather intelligence about other users, code structures, and project configurations that would normally be protected. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers legitimate credentials and T1566.002 which involves social engineering through credential compromise.
Organizations should immediately implement the vendor-provided patches for GitLab versions 19.0.5, 19.1.3, and 19.2.1 to remediate this vulnerability. Additional mitigations include conducting comprehensive access control reviews, implementing network segmentation between development and production environments, and monitoring for unusual internal request patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also verify that Developer role assignments are properly constrained and consider implementing additional logging and alerting mechanisms around internal API calls that could be leveraged to bypass authorization controls. The remediation process should include validating that all internal service communications properly enforce the principle of least privilege and that access control decisions are consistently applied across all request handling paths within the GitLab application framework.