CVE-2023-2478Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Authenticated CI job theft via unchecked runner attachment

Published May 8, 2023 · Updated Jan 29, 2025

Authorization bypass in affected GitLab CE/EE 15.x releases allows remote authenticated users to attach runners to arbitrary projects. The runnerUpdate GraphQL mutation accepts associated project IDs without verifying that the caller has permission on those projects. Any authenticated account with an unlocked runner can intercept CI jobs assigned to it, exposing project code and CI/CD job tokens.

CVSS severity9.6
Critical
EPSS probability5.04%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authorization bypass in affected GitLab CE/EE 15.x releases allows remote authenticated users to attach runners to arbitrary projects. The runnerUpdate GraphQL mutation accepts associated project IDs without verifying that the caller has permission on those projects. Any authenticated account with an unlocked runner can intercept CI jobs assigned to it, exposing project code and CI/CD job tokens.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2478
Published
May 8, 2023
Updated
Jan 29, 2025
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-732, T1078
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 29, 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=>=15.10, <15.10.6
  2. Affected versionversion=>=15.11, <15.11.2
  3. Affected versionversion=>=15.4, <15.9.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=15.10, <15.10.6; version=>=15.11, <15.11.2; version=>=15.4, <15.9.7

Published CVSS scores

6.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
9.6GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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 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-732Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
T1078Valid Accounts

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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