CVE-2023-3385: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in GitLab

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.9% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-08-02 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-22

Description

An issue has been discovered in GitLab affecting all versions starting from 8.10 before 16.0.8, all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.3, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.2. Under specific circumstances, a user importing a project 'from export' could access and read unrelated files via uploading a specially crafted file. This was due to a bug in `tar`, fixed in [`tar-1.35`](https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnu/2023-07/msg00005.html).

Affected products

GitLab: from 8.10 before 16.0.8; from 16.1 before 16.1.3; from 16.2 before 16.2.2 — fixed in 16.0.8, 16.1.3, 16.2.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GitLab 16.0.8, 16.1.3, 16.2.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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