Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 8.14 before 16.0.8, all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.3, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.2. A Regular Expression Denial of Service was possible via sending crafted payloads which use AutolinkFilter to the preview_markdown endpoint.
- Published
- Aug 1, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 44.5% · 99th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-1333
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Report tools
Action score
43
Plan
Add it to your regular patch cycle.
- CVSS
- 30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 13 / 30 · 44.5%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- proof of concept
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 7.5
- CNA · GitLab
- 7.5
- agree
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| gitlab | gitlab | cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- gitlab gitlab8.14 and later · before 16.0.8
- gitlab gitlab16.1 and later · before 16.1.3
- gitlab gitlab16.2 and later · before 16.2.2
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitLab). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
GitLab GitLab
- 8.14 and later · before 16.0.8affected · semver
- 16.1 and later · before 16.1.3affected · semver
- 16.2 and later · before 16.2.2affected · semver
Same product
gitlab: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2021-22205An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 11.9.KEV100Now
- CVE-2026-85706Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in GitLabKEV97Now
- CVE-2023-7028Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password in GitLabKEV97Now
- CVE-2021-22175When requests to the internal network for webhooks are enabled, a server-side request forgery vulnerability in GitLab affecting all versionsKEV85Now
- CVE-2021-39935An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 10.5 before 14.3.6, all versions starting from 14.4 beforeKEV71This week
- CVE-2022-2992A vulnerability in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions from 11.10 prior to 15.1.6, 15.2 to 15.2.4, 15.3 to 15.3.2 allows an authenticated us65This week
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitLab GitLab | 16.0.8 | Vendor (CNA) |
| GitLab GitLab | 16.1.3 | Vendor (CNA) |
| GitLab GitLab | 16.2.2 | Vendor (CNA) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-1333 · Inefficient Regular Expression ComplexityCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
—
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.