CVE-2025-11990: Improper Handling of URL Encoding (Hex Encoding) in GitLab

Severity: low (CVSS 3.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-11-15 · updated 2026-10-19
Weakness: CWE-177

Description

GitLab has remediated an issue in GitLab EE affecting all versions from 18.4 before 18.4.4, and 18.5 before 18.5.2 that could have allowed an authenticated user to gain CSRF tokens by exploiting improper input validation in repository references combined with redirect handling weaknesses.

Affected products

GitLab: from 18.4.0 before 18.4.4; from 18.5.0 before 18.5.2 — fixed in 18.4.4, 18.5.2

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: GitLab 18.4.4, 18.5.2. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2025/11/12/patch-release-gitlab-18-5-2-released/
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/577850
https://hackerone.com/reports/3257843

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