CVE-2021-22181 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

A denial of service vulnerability in GitLab allows an attacker to exhaust resources by creating a recursive pipeline relationship in GitLab since version 11.8.

Understanding CVE-2021-22181

This CVE affects GitLab versions between 11.8 and 13.12.2, potentially impacting the availability of the service.

What is CVE-2021-22181?

CVE-2021-22181 is a denial of service vulnerability in GitLab Community Edition (CE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) that enables an attacker to consume resources by creating a recursive pipeline relationship.

The Impact of CVE-2021-22181

With a CVSS base score of 7.7, this vulnerability poses a high risk to affected systems due to its potential for resource exhaustion, leading to service unavailability.

Technical Details of CVE-2021-22181

The following provides more detailed technical information about the vulnerability:

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability allows an attacker to create a recursive pipeline relationship, resulting in uncontrolled resource consumption.

Affected Systems and Versions

GitLab versions >=11.8 and <13.10.5, >=13.11 and <13.11.5, and >=13.12 and <13.12.2 are affected by this vulnerability.

Exploitation Mechanism

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by creating a recursive pipeline relationship within GitLab, leading to the exhaustion of resources.

Mitigation and Prevention

To protect your system from CVE-2021-22181, consider the following steps:

Immediate Steps to Take

Update GitLab to versions 13.10.5, 13.11.5, or 13.12.2 to mitigate the vulnerability.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly monitor and review pipelines to detect any unusual activity that may indicate exploitation.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security updates from GitLab and apply patches promptly to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities.