CVE-2024-4210
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) condition in GitLab by uploading specially crafted adoc (AsciiDoc) files. All GitLab CE/EE instances within specified version ranges are affected, potentially making the service unavailable to legitimate users.
💻 Affected Systems
- GitLab Community Edition
- GitLab Enterprise Edition
📦 What is this software?
Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →Gitlab by Gitlab
GitLab is a complete DevOps platform providing source code management, CI/CD pipelines, security scanning, container registry, and collaboration tools used by millions of developers and thousands of enterprises worldwide. As both a cloud-hosted SaaS offering (GitLab.com) and self-managed software, G...
Learn more about Gitlab →⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete service unavailability requiring manual intervention to restore GitLab functionality, disrupting all Git operations, CI/CD pipelines, and collaboration features.
Likely Case
Temporary service degradation or crashes affecting specific GitLab components, requiring service restarts and causing intermittent availability issues.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper file upload restrictions and monitoring in place, allowing quick detection and mitigation of attack attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access to upload files, but the attack vector is straightforward once access is obtained.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 17.0.6, 17.1.4, or 17.2.2
Vendor Advisory: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/458245
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Backup your GitLab instance. 2. Update to GitLab 17.0.6, 17.1.4, or 17.2.2 using your preferred upgrade method. 3. Restart GitLab services. 4. Verify the update was successful.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict adoc file uploads
linuxTemporarily disable or restrict AsciiDoc file uploads through GitLab configuration
Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add: gitlab_rails['uploads_storage_path'] = '/tmp'
Run: gitlab-ctl reconfigure
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict file upload validation to reject suspicious adoc files
- Monitor for unusual file upload patterns and implement rate limiting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check GitLab version with: sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info | grep 'GitLab version'Check Version:
sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:env:info | grep 'GitLab version'Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 17.0.6, 17.1.4, or 17.2.2 or higher📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual adoc file upload patterns
- GitLab service crashes or high resource usage after file uploads
- Error logs related to AsciiDoc processing
Network Indicators:
- Spike in file upload requests
- Unusual traffic patterns to GitLab upload endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="gitlab" AND ("adoc" OR "asciidoc") AND (upload OR file)