CVE-2023-2132Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service interruption via DollarMathPostFilter regex backtracking

Published Jun 6, 2023 · Updated Jan 7, 2025

Regular expression denial of service in GitLab CE/EE allows remote attackers to interrupt service via crafted Markdown preview requests. DollarMathPostFilter applies DOLLAR_DISPLAY_INLINE_PATTERN to attacker-controlled text, where crafted whitespace triggers severe backtracking. An unauthenticated request for a public group's preview_markdown endpoint consumes a CPU core until timeout; sustained requests make the instance unresponsive.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability1.32%
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 GitLab CE/EE allows remote attackers to interrupt service via crafted Markdown preview requests. DollarMathPostFilter applies DOLLAR_DISPLAY_INLINE_PATTERN to attacker-controlled text, where crafted whitespace triggers severe backtracking. An unauthenticated request for a public group's preview_markdown endpoint consumes a CPU core until timeout; sustained requests make the instance unresponsive.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2132
Published
Jun 6, 2023
Updated
Jan 7, 2025
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 6, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 7, 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=>=15.11, <15.11.7
  2. Affected versionversion=>=15.4.0, <15.10.8
  3. Affected versionversion=>=16.0, <16.0.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=15.11, <15.11.7; version=>=15.4.0, <15.10.8; version=>=16.0, <16.0.2

Published CVSS scores

7.5GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application 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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