CVE-2021-39872Network attack vector

Expired-password token access to Git and API

Published Oct 5, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Improper access control in GitLab 14.1 through 14.3.0 allows remote authenticated users with expired passwords to access Git and API via old tokens. Token authentication fails to enforce the account's password-expiration state, so tokens issued before expiration continue authorizing repository and API requests. The attacker must already hold a valid access token; impact is unauthorized read access to data available through that token, with no evidence of integrity or availability impact.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.99%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper access control in GitLab 14.1 through 14.3.0 allows remote authenticated users with expired passwords to access Git and API via old tokens. Token authentication fails to enforce the account's password-expiration state, so tokens issued before expiration continue authorizing repository and API requests. The attacker must already hold a valid access token; impact is unauthorized read access to data available through that token, with no evidence of integrity or availability impact.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-39872
Published
Oct 5, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-287, T1078
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 5, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=>=14.1, <14.1.7
  2. Affected versionversion=>=14.2, <14.2.5
  3. Affected versionversion=>=14.3, <14.3.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=14.1, <14.1.7; version=>=14.2, <14.2.5; version=>=14.3, <14.3.1

Published CVSS scores

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-287Improper Authentication
T1078Valid Accounts

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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