Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
GitLab instances in listed 16.x releases can send password reset emails to an unverified email address, creating a direct account-takeover risk. Because CISA lists this CVE in KEV, treat exposed affected GitLab servers as urgent until patched and reviewed.
Executive priority
Emergency priority. This is a critical account-takeover vulnerability with KEV-listed exploitation. Patch affected GitLab instances immediately, then verify whether sensitive repositories, CI/CD secrets, or administrator accounts could have been accessed.
Technical view
CVE-2023-7028 is a CWE-640 password recovery flaw in GitLab CE/EE. A network attacker needs no privileges, interaction, or local access. Affected versions are 16.1 before 16.1.6 through 16.7 before 16.7.2. CVSS 10.0 reflects high confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Organizations running self-managed GitLab CE/EE versions 16.1 through 16.7 are the primary exposure group. The bundle does not identify GitLab.com customer exposure or non-GitLab products as affected.
Exploitation context
Active exploitation is supported by the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities listing. The public bundle also references a HackerOne report and a third-party analysis, but this assessment avoids exploit mechanics and does not infer exploitation beyond the KEV evidence.
Researcher notes
The key evidence is the CVE record, affected-version ranges, CVSS vector, CWE-640 classification, and KEV status. The bundle does not provide full incident indicators, complete exploit telemetry, or comprehensive post-compromise guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade GitLab 16.1 to 16.1.6 or later.
- Upgrade GitLab 16.2 to 16.2.9 or later.
- Upgrade GitLab 16.3 to 16.3.7 or later.
- Upgrade GitLab 16.4 to 16.4.5 or later.
- Upgrade GitLab 16.5 to 16.5.6, 16.6.4, or 16.7.2 as applicable.
- Check current GitLab vendor guidance for any additional hardening or investigation steps.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all self-managed GitLab CE/EE instances and record exact versions.
- Confirm no instance runs affected versions before the listed fixed releases.
- Review account password reset activity for unexpected recipients or timing.
- Prioritize internet-facing GitLab systems and privileged user accounts.
- Verify remediation through package version, application UI, or approved asset records.
Public sources used
Michael Williams reviewed this cited source version on .
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-640: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. 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 lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-7028 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
- 10 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
CISA KEV status
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:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N3.95.8GitLabVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
10CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
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.
- Added to KEVCISA-ADP
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities metadata lists this CVE as known exploited.
- ADP timelineCISA-ADP
CVE-2023-7028 added to CISA KEV
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
- 2024-05-01T00:00:00.000Z: CVE-2023-7028 added to CISA KEV
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GitLab Issue #436084CVE reference, GitLab · issue-tracking, permissions-required
- HackerOne Bug Bounty Report #2293343CVE reference, GitLab · technical-description, exploit
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-7028CVE reference, CISA-ADP · government-resource
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/critical-gitlab-account-takeover-vulnerability-cve-2023-7028CVE reference, CVE
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.
Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.