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GitLab EE EUVDEUVD-2026-107678

| CVE-2026-14288 LOW
Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference (CWE-706)
2026-10-21 GitLab GHSA-xxf3-q32p-w3cc
3.1
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: GitLab
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Authenticate as low-privileged GitLab user
  2. Delivery
    Target protected branch with approval policy
  3. Exploit
    Trigger approval rule synchronization flaw
  4. Execution
    Bypass required merge approval
  5. Impact
    Merge unapproved changes

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Incorrectly specified target
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires an authenticated GitLab EE user (PR:L) with sufficient access to interact with a project whose protected branch is governed by a required merge-request approval policy - the vulnerability only manifests during approval rule synchronization and only 'under certain conditions,' consistent with the high attack complexity (AC:H). This is Enterprise Edition specific (approval policies are an EE feature), so Community Edition deployments are unaffected. Limiting factors: no path exists without prior authentication, the targeted project must actually enforce a required approval policy on a protected branch, and the unspecified triggering conditions plus AC:H mean exploitation is not reliable or trivial. Impact is confined to integrity of the merge-approval control; there is no confidentiality or availability consequence.

Impact

This is a genuinely low-priority issue despite the attention GitLab vulnerabilities typically attract. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 3.1 is consistent with its vector (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N): network-reachable but requiring high attack complexity ('under certain conditions'), an already-authenticated user with low privileges, and yielding only limited integrity impact (I:L) with no confidentiality or availability loss. Exploitation status is 'publicly available exploit code exists' - a HackerOne report (#3797008) is referenced - but this is NOT CISA KEV and there is no evidence of active exploitation; POC availability and active exploitation are distinct signals and should not be conflated. No EPSS score was provided in the input, so probabilistic exploitation likelihood cannot be assessed here. An SSVC decision was not supplied either. The realistic risk is a trusted insider or low-privileged project member bypassing a required merge-request approval policy on a protected branch - a governance/integrity-control weakness, not a path to code execution, data theft, or outage. The high attack complexity and the requirement for pre-existing authenticated access substantially limit real-world exploitability, so this is a low-severity integrity issue rather than a high-impact priority.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A low-privileged but authenticated GitLab EE user with push access to a project targets a protected branch guarded by a required merge-request approval policy. By exploiting improper access control during approval rule synchronization under specific conditions, they merge changes that should have required mandatory reviewer approval, undermining the branch protection control. Public exploit detail exists in the referenced HackerOne report (#3797008).

Monitor Track and reassess. Why: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 22, 2026

Authenticated users of GitLab Enterprise Edition can bypass a required merge request approval policy on a protected branch under specific synchronization conditions, weakening the branch's approval gate without gaining any read or availability impact. The flaw affects EE versions from 17.4 before 19.3.6, 19.4 before 19.4.3, and 19.5 before 19.5.1, and Community Edition is unaffected because approval policies are an EE feature. GitLab has released fixed versions, but publicly available exploit code exists (a HackerOne report is referenced), and the CVSS score is only 3.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N), consistent with a low-priority integrity issue rather than a high-risk compromise.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: upgrade GitLab EE to 19.3.6, 19.4.3, or 19.5.1 (or later) as described in the patch release advisory at https://docs.gitlab.com/releases/patches/patch-release-gitlab-19-5-1-released/; no configuration change is a substitute for the fix. If immediate upgrade is not possible, reduce exposure by temporarily tightening who can create or edit merge request approval rules and protected-branch settings (for example restricting these to a small maintainer/owner group), with the trade-off that legitimate project owners lose self-service policy changes; alternatively, require a second, manually verified approval outside GitLab for merges to the most sensitive protected branches, at the cost of slower review throughput. Audit merge request approval events and approval-rule changes on protected branches for anomalies, and monitor the vendor work item at https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/work_items/604630 for updates, noting that public exploit details are referenced via https://hackerone.com/reports/3797008. Because exploitation requires an authenticated EE account and a project with an enforced approval policy, limiting low-trust accounts' membership in such projects is a useful compensating control, though it does not remove the underlying defect.

Affected VersionsENISA

GitLab 19.4 <19.4.3
GitLab 19.5 <19.5.1
GitLab 17.4 <19.3.6

Affected Packages

euvd gitlab fix: 19.3.6, 19.4.3, 19.5.1

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is tracked as CWE-706 (Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference), meaning that during synchronization of merge request approval rules GitLab EE can resolve or match the wrong rule/reference, so a required approval policy attached to a protected branch is not correctly enforced. Approval policies and protected-branch approval rules are Enterprise Edition functionality; the CPE cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers the GitLab application broadly, while the description narrows the impact to EE. Because the defect only manifests 'under certain conditions' during approval rule synchronization, the attack complexity is high (AC:H) and exploitation is neither reliable nor trivial. The attacker needs a low-privileged authenticated account (PR:L) with enough access to interact with an affected project, and the only outcome is a limited integrity impact (I:L) on the merge-approval control - no confidentiality or availability effect, and no unauthenticated path.

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Severity by source

Vendor (GitLab) PRIMARY 3.1 LOW
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
vuln.today AI 3.1 LOW

Authenticated low-privileged user over the network (AV:N/PR:L), only 'certain conditions' trigger it (AC:H), limited integrity impact from bypassing an approval control with no confidentiality or availability effect.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (GitLab).

CVSS VectorVendor: GitLab

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Oct 22, 2026 - 05:16 EUVD
CVE Published
Oct 21, 2026 - 23:35 cve.org
LOW 3.1

DescriptionCVE.org

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab EE affecting all versions from 17.4 before 19.3.6, 19.4 before 19.4.3, and 19.5 before 19.5.1 that under certain conditions could have allowed an authenticated to bypass a required merge request approval policy on a protected branch due to improper access control during approval rule synchronization.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 86% exploitable
Prevalence
High
widely deployed enterprise DevOps platform, but Enterprise Edition only
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity LOW
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
High

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +16
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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