CVE-2021-22263Public exploitNetwork attack vector

External-to-Internal escalation via project access token bot

Published Oct 11, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in GitLab allows remote authenticated users with external status to gain Internal access through project tokens. The project access token creation path assigns the token's bot user Internal status instead of preserving the creator's external restriction. Exploitation requires an external Maintainer and enabled project tokens, after which internal source code can be read and issues created.

CVSS severity5.5
Medium
EPSS probability1.09%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in GitLab allows remote authenticated users with external status to gain Internal access through project tokens. The project access token creation path assigns the token's bot user Internal status instead of preserving the creator's external restriction. Exploitation requires an external Maintainer and enabled project tokens, after which internal source code can be read and issues created.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22263
Published
Oct 11, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-269, T1078
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 11, 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=>=13.0, <14.0.9
  2. Affected versionversion=>=14.1, <14.1.4
  3. Affected versionversion=>=14.2, <14.2.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=13.0, <14.0.9; version=>=14.1, <14.1.4; version=>=14.2, <14.2.2

Published CVSS scores

6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
5.5GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
5.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N

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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
T1078Valid Accounts

Public exploit references

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

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo