Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2024-0456 is a GitLab authorization flaw. A logged-in attacker with project access could assign arbitrary users to merge requests they created. The impact is limited to integrity of workflow metadata, not code execution or data theft based on the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a routine security update, not an emergency, unless affected GitLab projects include sensitive development workflows or many untrusted contributors. Patch during the next planned security maintenance window.
Technical view
GitLab describes this as Direct Request/Forced Browsing, CWE-425. Affected versions are 14.0 before 16.6.6, 16.7 before 16.7.4, and 16.8 before 16.8.1. CVSS is 4.3, network-accessible, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, integrity impact low.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in self-managed GitLab instances running the affected version ranges. The attacker needs authenticated access and relevant project context, so internet exposure alone is not sufficient evidence of exploitability.
Exploitation context
No provided source or KEV entry indicates active exploitation. Abuse would affect merge request assignment behavior and could create workflow confusion, social pressure, or process integrity issues within projects.
Researcher notes
The available sources define affected versions and impact but do not provide exploit details. The issue is authorization-related and requires low privileges. Validate by version and configuration review rather than attempting exploit reproduction in production.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade GitLab to 16.6.6, 16.7.4, 16.8.1, or later supported versions.
- Prioritize instances with broad user registration or many external collaborators.
- Review GitLab vendor release guidance for any deployment-specific instructions.
- If upgrade is delayed, restrict project membership and external collaborator access where practical.
Validation and detection
- Inventory all GitLab self-managed instances and record exact versions.
- Flag versions 14.0 before 16.6.6, 16.7 before 16.7.4, and 16.8 before 16.8.1.
- Confirm upgrades completed successfully through GitLab version reporting.
- Review recent merge request assignment activity for unusual or unexpected assignees.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
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-425: 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 lookupCVE-2024-0456 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.
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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N 2.8 1.4 GitLab Vulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3 MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reserved CVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE published CVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updated CVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 source CVE List V5
- https://about.gitlab.com/releases/2024/01/25/critical-security-release-gitlab-16-8-1-released/ CVE reference, GitLab
- GitLab Issue #430726 CVE reference, GitLab · issue-tracking
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.
Direct Request ('Forced Browsing')
Direct Request ('Forced Browsing') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.