CVE-2021-22168Network attack vector

Service interruption via backtracking NuGet package-name regex

Published Jan 15, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Regular expression denial of service in affected GitLab releases allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service through the NuGet API. The NuGet API applies a backtracking-prone package-name regular expression to attacker-controlled input, causing disproportionate CPU consumption. A low-privileged account and an enabled package registry are required; affected releases are 12.8 through 13.5.5, 13.6.0 through 13.6.3, and 13.7.0 through 13.7.1.

CVSS severity4.3
Medium
EPSS probability1.00%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Regular expression denial of service in affected GitLab releases allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service through the NuGet API. The NuGet API applies a backtracking-prone package-name regular expression to attacker-controlled input, causing disproportionate CPU consumption. A low-privileged account and an enabled package registry are required; affected releases are 12.8 through 13.5.5, 13.6.0 through 13.6.3, and 13.7.0 through 13.7.1.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22168
Published
Jan 15, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 15, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=>=12.8, <13.5.6
  2. Affected versionversion=>=13.6.0, <13.6.4
  3. Affected versionversion=>=13.7.0, <13.7.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=12.8, <13.5.6; version=>=13.6.0, <13.6.4; version=>=13.7.0, <13.7.2

Published CVSS scores

4.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:P
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.3GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
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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