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Full vulnerability report · 2024
CVE-2023-7028High confidence

GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions Improper Access Control Vulnerability

GitLab · GitLab CE/EE

10.0CriticalCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2024-05-22 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-59219

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 16.1 prior to 16.1.6, 16.2 prior to 16.2.9, 16.3 prior to 16.3.7, 16.4 prior to 16.4.5, 16.5 prior to 16.5.6, 16.6 prior to 16.6.4, and 16.7 prior to 16.7.2 in which user account password reset emails could be delivered to an unverified email address.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 1 May 2024. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
10.0 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
1 linked advisory record
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2024-05-22 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions contain an improper access control vulnerability. This allows an attacker to trigger password reset emails to be sent to an unverified email address to ultimately facilitate an account takeover.

What

GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions contain an improper access control vulnerability. This allows an attacker to trigger password reset emails to be sent to an unverified email address to ultimately facilitate an account takeover.

Why

The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

What

GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions contain an improper access control vulnerability. This allows an attacker to trigger password reset emails to be sent to an unverified email address to ultimately facilitate an account takeover.

Why

The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may bypass an access boundary or take over an account.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2024-05-01.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Reference recorded

A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.

Likely attack path
a network path → Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password → bypass an access boundary or take over an account
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Changed: exploitation can affect a different security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-640 ↗

CWE-640: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password. The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SChangedScope: The attack can affect a component governed by a different security authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-640CISA KEVPublic exploit reference
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-59219Known-exploited evidence recorded

An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 16.1 prior to 16.1.6, 16.2 prior to 16.2.9, 16.3 prior to 16.3.7, 16.4 prior to 16.4.5, 16.5 prior to 16.5.6, 16.6 prior to 16.6.4, and 16.7 prior to 16.7.2 in which user account password reset emails could be delivered to an unverified email address.

Official EUVD record
BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2024-0077GitLab: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in GitLab ausnutzen, um Benutzerrechte zu erlangen, Daten zu manipulieren und um Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen.

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2024-AVI-0030Multiples vulnérabilités dans GitLab

De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans GitLab. Elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer une exécution de code arbitraire à distance, un contournement de la politique de sécurité et une atteinte à la confidentialité des données.

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
16.1 < 16.1.6; 16.2 < 16.2.9; 16.3 < 16.3.7; 16.4 < 16.4.5; 16.5 < 16.5.6; 16.6 < 16.6.4; 16.7 < 16.7.2
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 12 Jan 2024 · Last source change 15 Aug 2026, 04:10 UTC · CWE-640 · Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-59219
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-59219↗CISA KEV record↗Public exploit reference↗Public exploit reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-7028 · cve.blacktree.nl