Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-6477 is a GitLab EE privilege escalation flaw. A user with a custom role containing admin_group_member permission may be able to promote themselves or others to group Owner. This can undermine governance over source code, CI/CD settings, secrets, and group membership.
Executive priority
Prioritize within the normal patch cycle, faster for GitLab groups hosting sensitive code, CI/CD secrets, regulated data, or shared administrative teams. The issue is not unauthenticated, but successful abuse can hand over group ownership.
Technical view
GitLab EE versions 16.5 before 16.7.6, 16.8 before 16.8.3, and 16.9 before 16.9.1 incorrectly assign privileges for custom roles using admin_group_member. The flaw is network reachable, low complexity, requires high privileges, needs no user interaction, and can affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to GitLab EE deployments in the affected version ranges that use custom roles with admin_group_member permission. Default unaffected status is noted, and GitLab CE is not named in the supplied sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Abuse requires an authenticated user already assigned a custom role with admin_group_member permission, making this primarily an insider, compromised account, or over-permissioned role risk.
Researcher notes
The key research boundary is privilege context: high privileges and a specific custom role permission are required. Validate role definitions and ownership changes without attempting promotion workflows in production unless explicitly authorized and controlled.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected GitLab EE instances to 16.7.6, 16.8.3, 16.9.1, or later supported versions.
- Review custom roles containing admin_group_member and restrict them until patched.
- Audit recent group Owner assignments for unexpected promotions.
- Check GitLab vendor guidance for any additional configuration or backport instructions.
Validation and detection
- Inventory GitLab EE versions against the affected ranges.
- Identify custom roles that include admin_group_member permission.
- Review group membership history for unexpected Owner role changes.
- Confirm patched version deployment in production and externally reachable instances.
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
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CWE-266: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-6477 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
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.
SSVC decision data
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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L1.25.5GitLabVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.7MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GitLab Issue #433463CVE reference, GitLab · issue-tracking, permissions-required
- HackerOne Bug Bounty Report #2270898CVE reference, GitLab · 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 Privilege Assignment
Incorrect Privilege Assignment represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.