Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in GitLab
An issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 16.9 before 16.9.1. A crafted payload added to the user profile page could lead to a stored XSS on the client side, allowing attackers to perform arbitrary actions on behalf of victims."
- Published
- Feb 21, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 51.5% · 99th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-79
Sign in to follow · You’ll be notified if a followed record enters KEV, gets an exploit or is updated.
Report tools
Action score
49
Plan
Add it to your regular patch cycle.
- CVSS
- 34 / 40 · 8.7 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 15 / 30 · 51.5%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 8.7
- CNA · GitLab
- 8.7
- 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 gitlab16.9.0
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
- 16.9.0 and later · before 16.9.1affected · 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 | 16.9.1 | 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.
- CVE-2023-2442259 days apartAn issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions starting from 15.11 before 15.11.7, all versions starting from 16.0 befo50Plan
- CVE-2023-0050349 days apartAn issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 13.7 before 15.7.8, all versions starting from 15.8 before 15.8.49Plan
- CVE-2022-3265469 days apartA cross-site scripting issue has been discovered in GitLab CE/EE affecting all versions prior to 15.3.5, 15.4 prior to 15.4.4, and 15.5 prio47Plan
- CVE-2023-2164204 days apartImproper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in GitLab40Plan
- CVE-2022-2826481 days apartAn issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 10.0 before 12.9.8, all versions starting from 12.10 before 12.139Monitor
- CVE-2025-1763464 days apartImproper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') in GitLab34Monitor
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.
- A low-privileged account is enough.
- A user must open a link or visit a page.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- none
Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
nvd-primary
Root cause
User content is inserted into the page as HTML. The browser interprets the content as code rather than data.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-79 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
commentEl.innerHTML = comment.body;Fixed
commentEl.textContent = comment.body;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✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.