VDB-228965 · CVE-2023-2181 · Issue 407859

GitLab Merge Request privilege escalation

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.0	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in GitLab. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component Merge Request Handler. The manipulation leads to an unknown weakness. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2023-2181. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in GitLab (Bug Tracking Software) (affected version not known) and classified as problematic. This issue affects some unknown functionality of the component Merge Request Handler. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions before 15.9.8, 15.10.0 before 15.10.7, and 15.11.0 before 15.11.3. A malicious developer could use a git feature called refs/replace to smuggle content into a merge request which would not be visible during review in the UI.

The weakness was published 05/13/2023 as 407859. The advisory is shared at gitlab.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-2181 since 04/19/2023. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2023-33698). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

Bug Tracking Software

Name

GitLab

License

open-source

CPE 2.3info

🔍

CPE 2.2info

🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.0

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 6.5
NVD Vector: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 6.3
CNA Vector (GitLab Inc.): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Privilege escalation
CWE: Unknown
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

04/19/2023 🔍
05/13/2023 +24 days 🔍
05/13/2023 +0 days 🔍
12/17/2025 +949 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: 407859
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2023-2181 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2023-2181
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-228965
EUVD: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 05/13/2023 07:48
Updated: 12/17/2025 20:22
Changes: 05/13/2023 07:48 (48), 06/08/2023 15:23 (11), 12/17/2025 20:22 (15)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.