GitLab Community Edition/Enterprise Edition up to 18.8.6/18.9.2/18.10.0 algorithmic complexity

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition up to 18.8.6/18.9.2/18.10.0. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality. The manipulation leads to algorithmic complexity. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-3988. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in GitLab Community Edition and Enterprise Edition up to 18.8.6/18.9.2/18.10.0. This issue affects an unknown code. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a algorithmic complexity vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-407. An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 18.5 before 18.8.7, 18.9 before 18.9.3, and 18.10 before 18.10.1 that could have allowed an unauthenticated user to cause a denial of service by making the GitLab instance unresponsive due to improper input validation in GraphQL request processing.

The weakness was released by Svalkanov. The advisory is shared at gitlab.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-3988 since 03/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 18.8.7, 18.9.3 or 18.10.1 eliminates this vulnerability. The upgrade is hosted for download at about.gitlab.com.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2026-15937). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Bug Tracking Software

Vendor

• GitLab

Name

• Community Edition
• Enterprise Edition

Version

• 18.0
• 18.1
• 18.2
• 18.3
• 18.4
• 18.5
• 18.6
• 18.7
• 18.8
• 18.8.0
• 18.8.1
• 18.8.2
• 18.8.3
• 18.8.4
• 18.8.5
• 18.8.6
• 18.9
• 18.9.0
• 18.9.1
• 18.9.2
• 18.10.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://gitlab.com/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion