CVE-2023-3511 | Incorrect Authorization in GitLab

An issue has been discovered in GitLab EE affecting all versions starting from 8.17 before 16.4.4, all versions starting from 16.5 before 16.5.4, all versions starting from 16.6 before 16.6.2. It was possible for auditor users to fork and submit merge requests to private projects they're not a member of.

Published: 2023-12-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-3511 is rated Low Risk (19.2/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.40%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-3511

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.40% +0.37%
2 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.02% -0.04%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-3511

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.0 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 0.5 1.4 [email protected]
3.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.1 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-3511

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-3511

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2023-3511 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (gitlab), 1 status rows across 1 suites (sid): resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-3511
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-3511 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (gitlab), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, ignored 3, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-3511

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-3511

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gitlab gitlab >= 8.17, < 16.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
gitlab gitlab >= 16.5, < 16.5.4 cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
gitlab gitlab >= 16.6, < 16.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:gitlab:gitlab:*:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-3511

cvelogic Threat Intelligence