Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
GitLab EE could let a logged-in attacker cause scheduled security scan policy pipeline jobs to run as another user. That can expose or alter sensitive project data with the victim user's permissions. The issue is critical, but the provided sources do not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or broadly used GitLab EE instances. This bug can undermine trust in CI/CD authorization and may allow sensitive code or pipeline data access through another user's permissions.
Technical view
CVE-2023-5009 is an incorrect authorization flaw in GitLab EE scheduled security scan policies. A low-privileged attacker could run pipeline jobs as an arbitrary user. Affected versions start at 13.12 before 16.2.7 and 16.3 before 16.3.4. It is described as a bypass of CVE-2023-3932 with additional impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to GitLab EE instances running affected versions with scheduled security scan policies available. The attacker needs an account, but the impact can cross authorization boundaries and affect confidentiality and integrity.
Exploitation context
The source bundle references a GitLab issue and HackerOne report, both marked permissions-required. KEV is false, and no provided source states active exploitation. Public technical details may exist behind access controls, so treat exposure seriously without assuming exploitation in the wild.
Researcher notes
The vulnerability is authorization-related, not unauthenticated remote code execution. CVSS is 9.6 with low privileges required, high complexity, no user interaction, changed scope, and high confidentiality and integrity impact. Public evidence is limited by permission-gated primary references.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade GitLab EE to 16.2.7, 16.3.4, or a later unaffected release.
- Check GitLab vendor guidance for any additional required remediation.
- Review scheduled security scan policies for unexpected ownership or privilege assumptions.
- Restrict who can create or modify security scan policies until patched.
Validation and detection
- Inventory GitLab EE versions across all self-managed instances.
- Identify instances running 13.12 through before 16.2.7, or 16.3 before 16.3.4.
- Review scheduled security scan policy pipeline history for unexpected triggering users.
- Confirm no jobs ran under unintended high-privilege user contexts.
- Verify patched instances report an unaffected GitLab EE version.
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-2023-5009 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
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N1.85.8Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.6CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GitLab Issue #425304CVE reference · issue-tracking, permissions-required
- HackerOne Bug Bounty Report #2147126CVE 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.