CVE-2022-3639Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service interruption via exhaustive branch-name search

Published Oct 21, 2022 · Updated May 7, 2025

Uncontrolled resource consumption in affected GitLab releases allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service through branch creation. The can_create_branch issue endpoint loops through candidate branch names and performs a Git operation for each existing match until it finds an unused name. An authenticated user who can populate a repository with thousands of similarly prefixed branches can make repeated endpoint requests exhaust host CPU and interrupt the instance.

CVSS severity4.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.90%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Uncontrolled resource consumption in affected GitLab releases allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service through branch creation. The can_create_branch issue endpoint loops through candidate branch names and performs a Git operation for each existing match until it finds an unused name. An authenticated user who can populate a repository with thousands of similarly prefixed branches can make repeated endpoint requests exhaust host CPU and interrupt the instance.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-3639
Published
Oct 21, 2022
Updated
May 7, 2025
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 21, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 7, 2025Record 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=>=10.8, <15.1.6
  2. Affected versionversion=>=15.2, <15.2.4
  3. Affected versionversion=>=15.3, <15.3.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=10.8, <15.1.6; version=>=15.2, <15.2.4; version=>=15.3, <15.3.2

Published CVSS scores

7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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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