CVE-2023-3915: Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions in GitLab

Severity: high (CVSS 7.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.7% 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-279

Description

An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 16.1 before 16.1.5, all versions starting from 16.2 before 16.2.5, all versions starting from 16.3 before 16.3.1. If an external user is given an owner role on any group, that external user may escalate their privileges on the instance by creating a service account in that group. This service account is not classified as external and may be used to access internal projects.

Affected products

GitLab: from 16.1.0 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

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