CVE-2018-15472Network attack vector

Service interruption via unbounded syntax highlighting

Published Apr 15, 2023 · Updated Feb 10, 2025

DoS in GitLab CE and EE before 11.1.7, 11.2.0 through 11.2.3, and 11.3.0 allows remote attackers to interrupt service via crafted diffs. The diff formatter passes attacker-controlled diff text to the Rouge syntax highlighter without a rendering timeout, allowing formatting to block a Sidekiq worker for a prolonged period. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the published impact is limited to availability.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.72%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

DoS in GitLab CE and EE before 11.1.7, 11.2.0 through 11.2.3, and 11.3.0 allows remote attackers to interrupt service via crafted diffs. The diff formatter passes attacker-controlled diff text to the Rouge syntax highlighter without a rendering timeout, allowing formatting to block a Sidekiq worker for a prolonged period. No authentication or user interaction is required, and the published impact is limited to availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2018-15472
Published
Apr 15, 2023
Updated
Feb 10, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-770, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 15, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 10, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-770Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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