CVE-2023-2485Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Owner escalation via unchecked project-member import

Published Jun 7, 2023 · Updated Jan 7, 2025

Privilege escalation in GitLab 14.1 before 15.10.8, 15.11 before 15.11.7, and 16.0 before 16.0.2 allows attackers to grant Owner access. The project-member import path omits the Owner-role restriction enforced when maintainers invite members or change access levels directly. A project Maintainer must control another project where the imported account is already an Owner; the resulting Owner can delete, archive, or transfer the target project.

CVSS severity4.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.82%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in GitLab 14.1 before 15.10.8, 15.11 before 15.11.7, and 16.0 before 16.0.2 allows attackers to grant Owner access. The project-member import path omits the Owner-role restriction enforced when maintainers invite members or change access levels directly. A project Maintainer must control another project where the imported account is already an Owner; the resulting Owner can delete, archive, or transfer the target project.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2485
Published
Jun 7, 2023
Updated
Jan 7, 2025
Vendor
GitLab
Product
GitLab
Classifications
CWE-266, T1098
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 7, 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=>=14.1, <15.10.8
  2. Affected versionversion=>=15.11, <15.11.7
  3. Affected versionversion=>=16.0, <16.0.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

GitLab · GitLabversion=>=14.1, <15.10.8; version=>=15.11, <15.11.7; version=>=16.0, <16.0.2

Published CVSS scores

4.4GitLab Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
4.9NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 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-266Incorrect Privilege Assignment
T1098Account Manipulation

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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