CVE-2022-3514Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Server interruption via submodule URL regex backtracking

Published Jan 12, 2023 · Updated Apr 8, 2025

Regular expression denial of service in affected GitLab CE/EE versions allows remote authenticated users to interrupt a server with crafted submodule URLs. The submodule URL parser applies an end-anchored Ruby regex with ambiguous repetition to attacker-controlled .gitmodules URLs, causing catastrophic backtracking. A normal project user must commit the crafted URL and repeatedly query its submodule tree through GraphQL, driving CPU to 100 percent and returning HTTP 502 responses.

CVSS severity4.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.85%
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 CE/EE versions allows remote authenticated users to interrupt a server with crafted submodule URLs. The submodule URL parser applies an end-anchored Ruby regex with ambiguous repetition to attacker-controlled .gitmodules URLs, causing catastrophic backtracking. A normal project user must commit the crafted URL and repeatedly query its submodule tree through GraphQL, driving CPU to 100 percent and returning HTTP 502 responses.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-3514
Published
Jan 12, 2023
Updated
Apr 8, 2025
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-1333, CAPEC-492, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 12, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 8, 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?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=>=15.6, <15.6.4
  2. Affected versionversion=>=15.7, <15.7.2
  3. Affected versionversion=>=6.6, <15.5.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=15.6, <15.6.4; version=>=15.7, <15.7.2; version=>=6.6, <15.5.7

Published CVSS scores

4.3GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
5.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1333Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
CAPEC-492Regular Expression Exponential Blowup
T1499.003Application Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

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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