CVE-2023-3205: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in GitLab

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-09-01 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-1333

Description

An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 15.11 before 16.1.5, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.5, all versions starting from 16.3 before 16.3.1. An authenticated user could trigger a denial of service when importing or cloning malicious content.

Affected products

GitLab: from 15.11 before 16.1.5; from 16.2 before 16.2.5; 16.3.0 — fixed in 16.1.5, 16.2.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GitLab 16.1.5, 16.2.5. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/415067
https://hackerone.com/reports/2011464
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/415067
https://hackerone.com/reports/2011464

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