External risk intelligence

GitLab Remote Command Execution Vulnerability

CVE advisoryKnown Exploit

CVE-2021-22205

GitLab instances accepting image uploads are affected by a remote command execution vulnerability. This allows attackers to run unauthorized commands, potentially compromising systems and data, posing a significant business risk. Organizations should identify all instances and apply vendor updates.

5Halo Surface Signal

Code Injection

Gitlab

11.9.0 to before 13.8.813.9.0 to before 13.9.613.10.0 to before 13.10.3

External exposure likelihood

Halo Surface Signal score for CVE-2021-22205

GitLab is commonly deployed as a public-facing web application, API, or gateway for development infrastructure. The vulnerable component, GitLab Workhorse, is a core part of the web request handling stack, making the attack surface directly reachable through standard internet-facing web traffic without requiring specialized internal network placement.

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions are affected by a vulnerability related to image file validation. The flaw allows attackers to execute commands remotely on affected systems. This could lead to unauthorized access and control over the GitLab instance and its underlying infrastructure.

  • Vulnerable: GitLab image upload feature
  • Weakness: Improper validation of image files
  • Impact: Remote command execution and system compromise

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An attacker can execute commands on a vulnerable GitLab instance by sending a specially crafted image file. This bypasses security checks by exploiting how the system parses image files, allowing unauthorized command execution. The impact can include unauthorized access to systems, data modification or theft, and disruption of services.

  • Unauthenticated access to GitLab.
  • Attacker uploads malicious image.
  • Command execution on server.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

This vulnerability presents a significant risk to organizations using GitLab. An attacker with moderate technical skill could exploit this weakness remotely, potentially leading to unauthorized command execution on affected systems. The impact could include data compromise, system disruption, and reputational damage. Given the severity and ease of exploitation, this vulnerability should be treated with high urgency.

  • Attackers need moderate skill.
  • No authentication is required.
  • Business risk is high and urgent.

Priority actions

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

A critical vulnerability exists in GitLab CE/EE that allows for remote command execution. This issue arises from improper validation of image files processed by a file parser. The impact of this vulnerability can be significant, potentially affecting the integrity and availability of systems and data within affected organizations. Attackers could exploit this to gain unauthorized access and execute commands, posing a substantial business risk.

  • Identify all GitLab instances.
  • Restrict network access to GitLab.
  • Apply vendor updates and confirm resolution.

Frequently asked questions

What is GitLab Community and Enterprise Edition?

GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) are platforms for software development, offering version control, CI/CD, and project management to aid team collaboration and application deployment.

How does CVE-2021-22205 enable remote command execution?

CVE-2021-22205 is a command injection vulnerability where GitLab's improper validation of image files passed to a parser allows attackers to inject and execute commands on the server.

What weakness class does CVE-2021-22205 fall under?

This vulnerability is categorized under CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code 'Code Injection') and CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation).

What are the preconditions to trigger this GitLab vulnerability?

An attacker needs unauthenticated access to the GitLab instance. They can then upload a specially crafted image file, which is processed by the ExifTool parser without sufficient validation, leading to command execution on the server.

What is the recommended action for this GitLab vulnerability?

Organizations should identify all GitLab instances, restrict network access, and apply vendor-provided updates to mitigate this critical remote command execution vulnerability.

References

Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)

Sources: ransomware