Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
GitLab authorization flaw could let a developer bypass intended code-owner review by removing CODEOWNERS rules and merging to a protected branch. It requires a developer-level account, so this is not an unauthenticated compromise, but it weakens a key governance control over sensitive code changes.
Executive priority
Treat this as a governance-control weakness rather than a system takeover. Prioritize upgrades for repositories containing production, security, or regulated code where unauthorized merges could create downstream business risk.
Technical view
CVE-2023-2576 is CWE-863 affecting GitLab CE/EE 13.7 before 15.11.10, 16.0 before 16.0.6, and 16.1 before 16.1.1. CVSS 3.1 is 4.3. Impact is limited to integrity through unauthorized protected-branch merge behavior.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where affected GitLab CE/EE versions are used and projects depend on CODEOWNERS or protected branches for approval enforcement. The source bundle does not establish exposure for products beyond GitLab CE/EE.
Exploitation context
The sources describe a public bug bounty issue and technical report. CISA KEV status is false in the bundle, and no cited source states active exploitation in the wild.
Researcher notes
The core authorization failure allows a developer-role user to remove CODEOWNERS rules and merge to a protected branch. Evidence supports low integrity impact only; the bundle does not support confidentiality, availability, unauthenticated access, or active exploitation claims.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade GitLab CE/EE to 15.11.10, 16.0.6, 16.1.1, or later as applicable.
- Review GitLab vendor guidance for any additional version-specific remediation.
- Restrict developer permissions on sensitive repositories until affected instances are upgraded.
- Review protected branch and CODEOWNERS settings on high-risk projects.
Validation and detection
- Inventory GitLab CE/EE versions and compare them against the affected ranges.
- Confirm protected branches still require intended code-owner approvals.
- Review merge request history for CODEOWNERS removals followed by protected-branch merges.
- Check audit logs for unexpected CODEOWNERS changes by developer-role users.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-863: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-2576 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GitLab Issue #410123CVE reference · issue-tracking
- HackerOne Bug Bounty Report #1898054CVE reference · technical-description, exploit
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Authorization
Incorrect Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.